Let's play Minecraft in a world of Swords and Spells
by Minaly22
Summary: Dying from a heart attack when playing Minecraft was definitely not the way I thought I would die. Being reincarnated afterward was also not what I thought would happen. But I guess having another chance at life is a great thing! Now, how am I going to live in this world of Swords and Spells? (Minecraft Isekai!Gamer OC reincarnate into Fantasy World, generally slow fic.)
1. Prologue: Death?

**IMPORTANT - IMPORTANT - IMPORTANT**

I, Minaly22, hold no credit over this fanfiction except the fact that I am its translator and the publisher who is introducing this fiction into fanfiction dot net.

The original author, h1990125h, alias HoGa, has given me permission to translate and post his story on fanfiction dot net. This story was posted on the Taiwanese/HongKong gamer community website "Bahamut" in Chinese.

There will be an "Author's Note" and a "Translator's Note", with HoGa speaking in Chinese and me translating his AN into English, while I write some of the things I want to say in the TN directly in English.

Also, neither of us hold credit over Minecraft.

* * *

 **AN: Greetings from beyond the seas.**

Hello everyone, I am HoGa and I'm from Taiwan. (*ﾟ∀ﾟ)丿

The actual pronunciation of my alias is Hooga, and you are all free to add as many 'o' as you want in my name when you address me. HooooooGa~

I am a gamer who really loves playing Minecraft, and the game inspired me to create a fanfiction for it.

I was extremely shocked when I was approached by Minaly22, asking for permission to translate my work into English and posting it on fanfiction dot net. I would like to extend my most sincere gratitude towards them for their help. m(_ _)m

This fanfiction is currently housed in my blog on the Taiwanese/HongKong gamer community website "Bahamut". You are all free to visit it at any time... and maybe after I improve my language skills, I will see what treasure I can uncover in fanfiction dot net too.

I will leave the rest for Minaly22.

* * *

 **TN: Some things that I want to talk about...**

HoGa writes very very very short chapters, and I have tried my best to stick to the original text. This chapter for example, only had 1,400 words! There are currently 38 chapters published on his blog, and he has another 40 chapters in reserve, posting two chapters for each week.

I am really slow, and really lazy... It took me a week to translate the prologue, the first chapter, and the AN.

I hope to prevent the loss of quality when translating HoGa's work into English as much as I can.

HoGa writes in a very straight forward way without much embellishments very reminiscent of Japanese light novels. And sometimes hops over different point of views. I try my best to make it more understandable to readers.

Personally I think this fanfiction in particular holds many similarities with Re: Monster, The Rise of the Shield Hero, and etc. but I doubt it really matters since ideas and inspirations are overlapping all the time.

I hope you all enjoy the result of our joint effort.

* * *

Has anyone ever played a sandbox game?

Personally, I always **loved** games like those. Where the world was an open place, free to explore to your hearts contend, stories, adventures, and perhaps even romance. But _Minecraft_ in particular was the one game that captured my heart.

I bet a big majority of you have probably played that game before, but I still think some explanations are in order.

In the world of _Minecraft_ , every tree, every mountain, every living and breathing creature, are shaped by blocks. Tools and structures are then created by using blocks as well, giving them a distinctively blocky appearance.

The game offers several different modes for the players to enjoy. There is the Creative Mode, designed for limitless creations and imaginations. Survival Mode, designed for players to experience what it's like to live in the wilds and natural environment with nothing but their wits and skills. Let's not forget about Adventure mode either. Usually it involves player created maps which are programmed differently from normal gameplay, often with specific objectives or goals available.

In the world of Minecraft, the Player(s) are the absolute ruler of the world. They are the sovereigns who are capable of governing over everything that exists in the world. Players can create anything from their own hands. All that is needed was the imagination, inspiration, and dedication to complete one's masterpiece.

And currently, I am building a gigantic city in the sky.

Of course it's not just any kind of city. I am doing everything in Hard-core mode, on my own.

What's so special about building a city in Hard-core mode you say? Well, this mode is where the player can only live once in Survival mode while the difficulty scaling is set to the maximum. You would need to keep a very close look on your health, hunger, and resources to be able to survive under normal circumstances. To build a normal town in Hard-core mode would take a very huge amount of time and effort.

Gathering resources on your own, battling foes and mobs on your own, surviving the harsh conditions of nature on your own, and build a town while at it? That definitely does not sound easy now does it?

But really, I am a veteran gamer who has played _Minecraft_ for over eight years. This really is just a piece of cake for me.

Let's get back to the subject. You must be wondering why I am building a huge city in the sky in Hard-core mode, right? To be completely honest, I feel much happier working my brain and focusing my energy into creating things that I like in _Minecraft_. More happy when compared to dealing with the problems of reality and social expectations, at least. Playing _Minecraft_ helps me channel some of my negative energy productively so that they do not boil over at the worst possible timing, and makes my emotions much more stable.

And regarding my decision to undergo such a big project in Hard-core mode, we will have to look about several years backwards in time, the time when I sent my Ex out of my home.

Well, I can't really complain. My Ex was pining after someone much more handsome, wealthy, dedicated, and considerate than I am. In fact, we parted on a slightly happy note, with me giving her my blessings, and her wishing that I can find someone better than her in the future.

I am just a fat geek who is incredibly inconsiderate and poor in comparison **(1)**. I have no qualms about it as long as their new boyfriend can give her the happiness she deserves. I felt that my mission in that relationship has been completed.

But of course I am a mortal man, and any mortal man will definitely feel bad after breaking up with someone that they genuinely loved. Not to mention I was the one who initiated the break up. So I decided to dedicate my attention on trying to build a big project in my favorite game on Hard-core mode.

The aching in my heart was drastically reduced after several months of hard work. And since I thought I have already come too far to abandon the project, I just decided to stick with it.

My current daily routine is just the infinite loop of going to work, work on the project, go to sleep, etcetera. I earn enough money to keep my entire family stable, and in my opinion, I have really understanding parents. So there was no trouble on that front.

I let out a big yawn as I stretched my back.

The city in the sky is almost finished. I estimate that it probably needs only a few more blocks of stone to be truly complete.

Oooh, aaaaah. I can already feel the euphoria of accomplishment and the pride for seeing everything to the end filling me as I made my way to the last part of my city.

Finally, after so many years of mind-boggling hard work, it's going to be done!

I controlled my character/avatar to descend from a steel tower, parkour style.

I loved the feeling of adrenaline coursing through my body, the thrill and suspense of danger, where a single misstep will have me falling to my death. In all honesty, having something like an Ender Pearl to teleport would probably be more efficient since it would save time.

An Ender Pearl is something that can be obtained by killing an Enderman, and Endermen are tall black and purple humanoid creatures that are vulnerable to water and have the innate ability to teleport wherever they please.

A regular player/avatar has the height of two blocks, while an Enderman is three blocks tall. They are very slim and slender, and usually leave you alone unless you aggravate it, or until you stare at their eyes. They grow enraged and aggressive when someone stares at their eyes.

… Their behavior almost reminds me of a monarch that lashes out because they simply cannot stand the eye contact with peasants.

Since they can teleport whenever they want, to whatever location they want, it's very difficult to fight and defeat them. You never know where they ended up until you see them again, and when you do they are either trying to run away or ambush you, and you can do nothing about their actions as you simply can't stop them. They have the aforementioned weakness to water, and are hurt whenever coming into contact with it. Rain water, sea water, even a splash of water from a small pond will hurt them enough to back away; so submerging oneself in water is a fool proof plan of protection when fighting against them.

By throwing the Ender Pearl obtained from an Enderman, one could teleport to the location where the pearl has landed. I decided against using an Ender Pearl… but I also have to confess that I am unable to. Something was wrong with my game data, and for six whole years, not a single Enderman has spawned or appeared before me. So it's not like I can actually get an Ender Pearl in the first place.

I only realized this problem regarding the game data and lack of Endermen six months ago. But since my goal was to build a city in the sky, I decided it was unimportant.

… My vision grew clouded as an intense pain in my left chest almost made me fall unconscious.

I was diagnosed with hereditary heart problems when I was young. But the doctors promised us that it was not dangerous. The pain usually fades after a while so I never really paid much mind to it. It has accompanied me for many years.

So I ignored the pain just as usual, and went back up to the top of the tower after retrieving the blocks of stones to complete the finishing touches on my work.

Later in the future, when I think back on the events that happened, I wondered if I jinxed myself when talking about "not meeting an Enderman for six whole years."

Since it was exactly at that point that an Enderman appeared before me at the very top of the tower, and one single attack caused my character/avatar to die. No, I didn't fall off the tower and die from the fall damage. Just pure damage from the Enderman.

Sitting before the computer screen, I stared at the reddish "Game Over" message displayed on it with an inexplicable feeling of rage and disbelief inside me.

Why?

I am wearing a full set of Diamond Armor! How is it possible for an Enderman to take out all eight of my health/hearts in one hit!?

Staring back at the screen again, I noticed that this particular Enderman seems very different from the normal generic Enderman that I know of. The black purplish body had white particles on it… almost like a night sky full of stars.

Is this a Bug? And what sort of bug could cause this?

But I am in no condition to ponder on this strange occurrence since the pain in my chest due to hereditary heart problems continues to magnify.

It must have been triggered due to my influx of intense emotions. Dammit, am I having an actual heart attack right now?

All that I wanted was to enjoy my game, so why?

Didn't the doctors say that my heart problems posed no danger on my life? Why is it suddenly so much worse right now?

Why? Why did I send her away? I loved her so much, so why did I?

Why? Why does everyone, people from school and people from work, bully me so?

Why does all this crap happen to me?

…. I can feel my heart beat spasm as my vision continues to darken. The pain is slightly more bearable now, but I really don't think I can make it.

Am I really going to just die like this? I still have so much regret… in my heart….

I deleted my save data with blurry vision as both tears of pain and regret flow from my eyes. But hang on for a moment…

Why is there a "Revive" option available?

The last thing I remember before I blacked out completely was the clicking sound from the mouse I held in my hand when I clicked on the "Revive" option.

After that, I fell into the dark abyss of death.

* * *

(1) He is a fat gamer. But he has a life, has a steady income, and has a decent family. Don't insult him *wink*.


	2. Chapter 1: Rebirth?

**No AN from HoGa this time.**

 **TN will be at the bottom.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Rebirth

When I opened my eyes, I took a deep breath, almost like I took a long swim, and finally broke through the surface of the water after a long period of time.

Was it all an elaborate dream? And why do I hear the sound of a crying baby… Is this a hospital?

Err… If this was really the hospital, then why am I lying on the stone tiled ground with a baby right beside me?

As I tried to squirm, I soon came to the realization that I couldn't. It feels like some kind of cloth is wrapped around my entire body, stopping me from moving even a tiny inch.

My vision slowly began to clear, and I found myself staring at a gigantic pair of doors made out of thick stone. It seems like I am lying in a courtyard of some sort.

Seriously though, what the hell is up with the size of that door!? It's so huge! Gigantic would still be an understatement. Is this perhaps a church? What other sort of place would have doors this large, made out of stone to boot?

I found a lot of strange looking plants growing all around me, grass, grass, grass… that's probably grass too… and several piles of wet wooden things.

I am certain that I've never been to a place like this before; I lived in the cities all my life. Am I in the countryside?

Is all this just a dream?

If that is really the case, then why is the sound of rainfall so deafening!? I can also feel the wet droplets falling, and rolling down my face.

The gigantic stone doors creaked scratchily as someone came out from the building.

Oh my, it's a beautiful Nun… She seems to be saying something, but I don't think I understand any of it.

What a huge bust too! I think I can see it bouncing - Nonononono, no naughty thoughts! I shouldn't be thinking about something like this right now…

As the Nun continues to babble in a strange language that I cannot understand, she knelt and took hold of the baby lying right beside me.

I watched the Nun swiftly dash back into the building, leaving me all alone outside in the rain.

Gee, thank you very much.

Shoutings in the strange language were heard from the opened door. It seems like the Nun is shouting something to someone, and the craggy voice of an old lady shouted back at her.

The building- let's just call it the church for now - Other loud noises came from within the church. Which begs the question 'why the hell is a grown up man like me lying outside the church in the rain'?

Wasn't I just having a heart attack in front of my computer after playing Minecraft for several hours straight?

More shoutings were heard from inside the church, and this time a male dressing like a priest stepped out from the door.

… Technically, I don't think this guy would fit the appearance of an actual priest since he isn't dressed like the priests that I knew of. Same goes to the Nun. They are all garbed in strange garments that look nothing like the stereotypical 'priest robe' or 'nun habit' that I am used to. Is this really a church of Christ?

I suddenly realized that the priest also had horns similar to a cow protruding out of his head, with the big flapping ears to match.

Frozen completely in shock, I wondered if I stumbled upon a cosplay convention of some sort.

Hang on… if those big ears are actually flapping, then does it mean that those are real? Am I actually seeing a demi-human now? A beast man?

The horned priest had a kind smile on his face as he knelt down and scooped me up into his arms…

Are people all so large, or did I just suddenly shrunk down?

I tried to protest since I was not fond of skin contact from people that share my gender, but all that I managed to get out was a squeak.

How is he holding me up? I am an overweight man who has at least a hundred kilos (220 pounds) on me. How strong is this guy? And why is this priest holding me in his arms anyway? I would have preferred to have the nun hold me instead. I would have been so close to those two large buns…

Is it because that he is a beast man with superior strength compared to a human?

As I stared into the eyes of the priest, I saw his eyes reflect the image of a baby with brown hair, and I came to the realization that said baby with brown hair was actually… me.

I tried to shout, and was rewarded with the universal crying scream of a baby. And since I can feel that I am able to consciously control the pitch, I guess that's my voice now.

The other baby was already out of the rain-soaked swaddling cloth, and was having the water wiped off from its body by the nun from before and by another much older nun.

Oh my, the other baby is a girl. Sorry for seeing you naked in your birthday suit. My sincerest apologies.

It took me a few more seconds to look over her, and what caught my eye was her unnaturally black hair.

It looks like there is silver sand dust mixed into it, making her hair look like a night full of stars.

Of course, such a strange coloration instantly reminded me of the strange Enderman from earlier.

The first Enderman I've ever encountered in six years straight, with strange and noteworthy coloration, being able to kill someone wearing a full set of diamond armor in one hit.

And this baby girl has the hair color that matches the color of that strange enderman. A coincidence? Not in my books.

There was also a fact that the girl has a necklace with an Ender Pearl on it. As I stared at the necklace, I realized that the baby girl was staring at me as well. As I established eye contact with her, the images of an enraged Enderman bashing me to pieces flashed through my mind, sending shivers down my infantile body.

The image only lasted for a split second, and after it cleared away, all I saw was the eyes of the girl staring intently at me.

Something very upsetting seemed to have happened, as the Priest and two Nuns gave out sudden exclamation of shock and dismay. The baby girl was then swiftly deposited onto a stone pedestal, and another wave of shocked exclamation were given as strange signs and letters floated into the air.

The strange signs and letters don't look like any of the language I have seen before. It's not English, or Spanish, Japanese, not Russian, French, Arabic or Chinese either. In fact, I can safely state that this language has nothing related to any of the languages on Earth.

The priest then reached his hand out toward the baby girl, touching her on the forehead, before muttering a string of even stranger sounding words. The string of words sounds almost like a song, as it is evenly structured and even has a sort of rhythm behind it.

Then the hand of the priest began to glow, almost like magic.

Magic? Magic! Of course!

If I wasn't a baby, I would have probably screamed in shock.

Seeing all of this, I came to the conclusion that I am probably no longer on Earth.

It seems like I am being reborn as an infant into a strange new world.

* * *

 **TN:**

First I feel obligated to tell all of you that our Protagonist's name is "Walson". Its not mentioned in this chapter, but will be revealed in the next one.

HoGa recently confessed to all of the readers on his blog after publishing the 37th chapter, stating that Walson frequently breaks the fourth wall, and this fact becomes readily apparent after around chapter 45. I am saying this early just in case some people grow confused to his behavior in the future.


	3. Chapter 2: The reincarnated Enderman?

**No TN or AN this time.**

* * *

I would like to skip over the embarrassing years where I was nothing but a screaming, pooping mess of a baby and get on with the story please. I know everyone here who is reading this are probably more interested in what I grow up to be anyway.

Learning how to speak from scratch was much, MUCH harder than I expected it to be. Learning everything - ranging from walking, going to the toilet, talking, and thinking coherently - all over again was a painful and almost humiliating experience.

* * *

This is something that happened when I was seven.

"You freak!"

"Monster!"

"You do realize that true Monsters are actually much stronger than all of you combined, don't you?" I stood in front of Grace, against six bullies in the hallway of the orphanage.

Sigh, I am dripping water all over the floor right now. Thankfully I intercepted in time before they spilled the bucket full of water over Grace.

"What is a useless Villager like you doing here? Can't you see that I am a great Mage!?"

"Yeah! Mitty is the greatest!"

"Go away, stupid Villager." "Stupid!" "Idiot!"

I harumphed. "Heh, being able to light a candle with magic counts you as a great Mage? You are just an immature bully." Then I swept my outstretched finger over all the other bullies in the hall. "And you five, are just his hairless goons that are nothing more than insignificant hairless Goonies."

Goony, plural form Goonies, is actually a creature unique to this world. They are usually used as a swear word or insult inside a conversation.

Hmm... how do I explain this... For species such as humans and elves who do not hold a big amount of fur on their body, calling someone a Hairless Goony is like calling them a swine, a brute, or worthless animal.

The reason to that is because Goonies are a type of domesticated animal who produce nothing but fur. Its a bit like Sheep from back on Earth, where they can produce sheep fur. But the difference between a Sheep and a Goony is that there is seldom any amount of meat on a Goony, therefore making them generally inedible.

So, since Goonies produce fur and nothing else, a hairless Goony would be completely worthless.

"We are not hairless Goonies!" "Not hairless Goonies!" "We have hair!"

"Oh my, if all of you have hair, then you are simply just Goonies." I sent out another jibe, and watched them wince.

Despite Goonies being able to produce fur, the quality of the fur is very bad, and the amount of fur they can produce is even more laughable. Generally a type of domesticated animal that has very little value. Plus, the cost to nurture a Goony is quite high, to the point that Goony Fur Farming often becomes unprofitable.

Anyone with half a brain would just directly go for Sheep Fur Farming.

By the way, there are also Sheep and Cows similar from the ones on Earth in this world. However they often hold very unique coloration, such as a blue and pink Sheep or Cow.

"You... You stupid Villager!" "Damn you... are you protecting that monster!?"

"Is there something wrong in protecting someone else from harm? Me protecting Grace from you lot is none of your business." I stared down the bullies as I talked.

My oh my, what do they think they are doing, trying to argue with me? I am someone who has at least lived for thirty seven years mentally.

"Go away! We are going to purge that monster with Justice!" "Repent for your sins!" "Go to Hell!"

The bullies seem to have grown extremely angry.

Then, the tallest bully with a wooden stick in his hand stepped out from the small crowd.

"I am Mitty! The one who will become a Hero when I grow up! I will destroy you both in the name of Justice!" with his piece said, Mitty directly starts to chant, trying to cast a spell on us.

I really wonder how many loose screws this Mitty person has for casting and standing still right in front of the enemy. What the hell does he think he's doing?

It's a different thing if you can cast a spell quickly or instantaneously. But its obvious that Mitty is using a very unnecisarily long winded spell chant.

I waited for couple of seconds, watching the smug expression on Mitty's face for a bit, then proceeded to punch him directly in the gut.

"Ah!" "Meany!" "Dammit!"

As Mitty was rolling on the ground in pain, the other bullies started to scream and shout different profanities. Mitty is being completely ignored despite the fact that he is rolling on the ground, crying and announcing his pain with big fat tears all the while being curled up in a ball.

I then picked up Mitty's wooden stick that he used as a staff, and smacked all the other bullies on the head.

They immediately dispersed and ran away. Typical.

Throwing the wooden stick out of the open window, walking past Mitty who is still curled up on the ground, I stood standing over Grace who is sitting on the ground.

"Are you alright? Did you get sprayed by any water?" I watched Grace intently.

Her long starry black hair doesn't seem to have any wetness, and there are no signs of water over her clothes either.

She was probably startled and in shock though.

"... Glasses."

"Oh. They are over here." I picked up the glasses that have fallen on the ground and handed them to Grace,

She took the procured glasses, and after making sure they are settled properly on her face, raised her head to meet my gaze.

"... I am fine."

Her blue eyes are shimmering tearfully. It seems like she is barely holding onto them and not bawling loudly like Mitty on the ground.

Aaaah. Her small stature and cute eyes are a splendid sight to see. Lolis are definitely the best. (1)

"Don't worry. You also have talent in Magic. You can definitely make them regret this after you reach ten years old and start your Magic lessons."

Looking at Grace who was still sitting on the ground, I was reminded of my own time and experience where I was bullied.

I simply can't just leave things be.

Well, although technically I was killed by 'Grace the Enderman', I don't hold a grudge against her.

Yup, this cute little girl who has just been bullied was that fearsome Enderman that killed me with one single hit.

And myself? Well, it looks like I was reincarnated as a Minecraft Player (or more often known, "Crafter") into this strange new world.

It took a lot of time for me to reach the conclusion that Grace was the Enderman who killed me and I have the powers of a Crafter.

Grace herself doesn't seem to have any sort of memories associated from her previous life, seeing as that she was just a mob, and just a mob that was a bunch of programmed zero and ones.

But anyway, she holds all the unique things an Enderman... - or Enderwoman? - has.

She is scared of water.

In other words, she gets hurt every time she comes into contact with water.

Speaking in terms that are used in this strange new world, 'Grace is hated by the water elementals of this world.'

This is related to the magic system of this world, where magic is essentially the Mage calling out for the elementals to do their work. An example would be, if you want a fireball, you use spell chants to communicate with the fire elementals in the atmosphere, and they will produce one for you.

Water elementals exists in the atmosphere like all elementals, and also exist inside natural water.

Such as rainwater, sea water, lake water, etc. Every time Grace comes into contact with water that contains Water elementals inside it, she will get hurt.

However, 'processed water' do not hold Water elementals. And therefore she is safe to drink things that have been processed. Like drinking boiled water, eating soup, taking a hot bath.

Also, Grace grows enraged whenever someone looks her directly in the eyes, and ends up intimidating anyone who does by imprinting frightening images into the beholder's mind.

Therefore, the special Glasses that I crafted just for her.

We will talk about how I made these glasses later.

In conclusion, her unique hair color, being unable to interact with natural water, and strange phenomenon when looked in the eyes, makes her a target for the bigoted and ignorant.

Grace is being treated as the cursed child of the orphanage, and mistreatment, bullying, verbal barbs are always directed at her as a result.

Speaking of which, Grace doesn't seem to be able to teleport yet. Hopefully she can learn to do that as she grows older.

"Walson! You naughty child, you've been fighting again! You're going to the Naughty room tonight!" the shrill voice of the Old Nun resounded through the halls.

Ah, its that troublesome old hag again.

* * *

(1): It seems like Walson is a Lolicon. But he is definitely not a pedophile.


	4. Chapter 3: Is this cheating?

**No AN from HoGa.**

 **TN will be at the bottom.**

* * *

"You always go and pick fights for no reason at all! Goodness Gracious... You're not getting dinner tonight you hear that!?"

The old Nun threw me into an old room which had the "Rank-1-Magic-Disable" ward placed.

A ward comes into completion by magic, creating an area that has certain restrictions or special conditions. In this case, the room if a Mage was thrown into a room with "Rank 1 Magic Disable", then they cannot cast spells that are ranked 1 or below no matter how hard they try.

But since I am not a Mage, neither have I learned any Magic (only orphans who are older than ten can take classes to learn them), the ward in this room made no difference to me.

This old room only has a rickety old table, with a moldy "Goddess Bible" set on top of it, and an almost broken bed. Nothing interesting here, a perfect place to hold "irresponsible and naughty children" in the eyes of the adults.

The "Goddess Bible" is a bible from the religion of Vantinom. Vantinom is a religion that worships the goddess of the same name, and is considered to be the most popular religion in the known world.

The Orphanage that I am currently living in is a branch-church of Vantinom, the Goddess is...

Well...

I think we should leave that particular topic for the future.

Anyway, since this room is used to isolate naughty children from the world, the words: "Repent for your actions" is heavily implied.

But seriously, does a normal child have the brain capacity and attention span to repent when even the majority of adult have no idea how to do it?

Since I frequently stand up for Grace and fend off the bullies for her, I have entered this room so many times, that I can safely call myself a regular at the naughty room.

Most of the time, the adults preach things such as "Don't solve things with violence! Tell the adults first!" or something when it happens, but I think all of us can agree that it's a load of bull crap.

As orphans who have nothing - no family, no possessions, no worth - all that we have is ourselves, and our fists. So naturally, we solve conflicts with the limited things we possess.

* * *

...

...

...

Oh right.

Hello everyone, I am Walson. And yes, I am breaking the fourth wall to speak to all of you.

My name before my reincarnation to this world is unimportant, so I will just leave that out. My real age... is relative, since my physical body is currently seven years old, while my, err, "Soul" is thirty seven. I died when I was thirty.

Yup, I'm just a kid now.

As for the fact that I have been reincarnated, I personally believe that I am the only person who is aware of that. Although Grace has technically also been reincarnated, she holds no knowledge and recollection of anything, since she was formerly a computer program filled with zeroes and ones.

Seriously though, I bet all of you have read bunch of stuff about how people become over-powered after being reincarnated or reborn. So you must be wondering why I don't seem to be capable of anything special?

Well, it all has to start with the occupation system of this world.

In this world, there are roughly three categories that can define all the sentient species that exist: A Fighter, A Mage, or A Commoner.

... Well, technically there are only two categories, the Fighter and the Mage, with the Commoner encompassing all the other 'less useful people'. There are also many different ways to call a Commoner, such as a Villager, Peasant, Bumpkin, Peon, etc. But most people stick to calling us kind of people "the Commoners". Personally I like 'Villager' best (because of "Testificate"! ... You don't get the joke? Well too bad), but I'm sticking to Commoner.

There exists a special artifact in this world that distinguishes people, it's called the "Stone Tablet of Identification". As the name implies, it is used to identify something.

The way this stone tablet works, is by touching the stone tablet with any part of one's body (or in the case of an object, letting a part of the object touching the stone) will make it start to list off the statistics of it. Things like Health, Mana, Attack, Defense, Agility, Accuracy and Experience Points... and other similar things will be provided.

You heard it right. Basically, this world is just like a big Role Playing Game. If it's not, then it's something very similar to a RPG.

So, by referencing the statistics shown by the stone tablet, one can deduce and predict an individual's future career and occupation. People who are born with higher physical stats will be more likely to become Fighters, and people with higher magical stats will become Mages.

There are also various smaller branches to these two very generalized categories. Mages can be Elementalists, Summoners, Curse Mage, Warlock, etc. And Fighters have Lancer, Warrior, Swordsman, Martial Artist, Archer, etc.

So what about Commoners? And what makes a person a Commoner?

Basically, people who do not have any outstanding stats, and anyone with average stats is considered to be a Commoner.

Nothing in this world prohibits Commoners to train and become Fighters or Mages, but it has been proven again and again, that it will be much much harder.

As for me, I am someone who does not have outstanding stats, and was therefore been labeled as a Commoner. I doubt my former occupation in my previous life would make any difference on what I am in this life, so I just let it go.

"Steve" from Minecraft was nothing but a normal guy with a pickaxe anyway, so even if something Minecraft related was mixed into my rebirth, I guess the best I can end up with would be a miner.

By the way, Commoners also have smaller branches like Farmer, Logger, Worker etc. I have confirmed that Miner is part of the Commoner branch.

* * *

As I sat on the almost broken bed in the room, I contemplated on what could be happening outside right now.

I am certain that before I was thrown into the naughty room, it was supposed to be "Chore Time". My chore was to tend to the farm and fertile fields, but since there are so many orphans, I personally doubt that my absence will make a difference.

"No one needs me at the farm anyway." I muttered to myself as I opened my Inventory and took out a Bread.

Then I took out a Crafting Table and set it on the ground. Initially, the Crafting Table was just a small block that was in my hands, but once it no longer came into contact with any part of my body, it swiftly began to turn into a square block that roughly had the diameter of one meter.

I suppose this ability would count as being very special, right? But this does not change my stats on the stone tablet, it did not make any difference in my categorization as a Commoner.

So, my ability allows me to turn anything into blocks and store it away in a special space that only I have access to. I call this space the "Inventory". Yes, yes, laugh at my lack of originality please, why don't you.

No matter how many things or how heavy they are, none of them will affect my body once converted into blocks by my special ability.

Although this is similar to the very over-powered "Hammer Space" where infinite amount of things of infinite variety can be stored, my ability has a capacity limit.

Regular objects turned into blocks has a 'stack limit' of sixty four. In other words, I can have as many as sixty four of something before I have to use up another bit of my space to make more stacks. The stack limit varies between different types of things, and sometimes there are even things that cannot be stacked at all.

And, my Inventory has the space of forty stacks, therefore, forty slots. The first thirty is the 'bag' and the last ten is the 'belt', or more generally known as the Hotbar. There is also the 2x2 crafting grid available, so it's basically just like Minecraft.

As mentioned before, my ability will convert almost anything into 'blocks', and a majority of times, the shape of the item were not anywhere close to rectangular, but will end up as rectangular once removed from the inventory.

An example would be a small piece of chopped firewood. Once I removed it from the inventory, it became a sizable rectangular block of log. This phenomena is irreversible, so I have to be mindful when I want to place things into the inventory.

Tools generally do not turn into rectangular blocks, or gain any 'blocky' appearance like Minecraft tools, which still mystifies me at times.

I simply named this process as "Conversion".

There are other interesting things to note.

When I played Minecraft, I installed the Minimap mod, and damage indicator mod. It seems like they have followed me into this new world and became part of my special abilities.

The minimap allows me to view things with a third person point of view on the map, it also shows me if there are any friendly or hostile life forms around me. The range is a circle that is precisely one hundred meters radius, sounds big, but actually isn't.

The damage indicator enables me to see very basic information of someone else.

Such as, [Grace_LV3_hp 12/12_Status: Normal_Title: None]

Not very specific, but its more than enough. Just like normal RPGs.

Currently I have only discovered these two. Maybe some of the other mods I installed made it into this world. But I have yet to discover them. I held immense amount of gratitude for people who develop and create mods when I was alive as a gamer, but now I wished I could worship them.

I munched on my bread as I placed three cobblestones and two wooden sticks onto the crafting table to craft a stone pickaxe. I carefully stole a few pieces of firewood and converted them into blocks of wooden log. And after crafting a wooden pickaxe, managed to sneakily mine some cobblestones from the riverbed near the orphanage.

So, what was I doing with stone pickaxe in the naughty room you ask? Why, I am going to use it to break out of course!

Since I am supposed to stay in here until the next dawn, I could use this time to do things I want without being disturbed.

Such as going for a walk on the mountains.

If I 'mine' the walls, then fix it by placing the block right back into the opening, and Voilà! I would be out!

All Minecraft players know that a locked door has no meaning.

Monsters appear regardless whether if its day or night, but it has been generally approved that night time is more dangerous. So I might encounter a few, but it's nothing to worry about since the most I would have to fight with would be a very low ranked slimes.

So long as I avoid going too deep into the mountains that is.

I really want to experiment my powers and abilities on my own, and I deemed the mountains to be the best place to do so.

As a side note, seven years ago, around the time I came into this world, a new type of monsters seem to have appeared.

They are the "Block Monsters". a.k.a, Minecraft mobs.

I heard this from Father Marbon, the priest guy who held me when I was a baby in Chapter 1.

The sudden appearance of the block monsters seems to be linked to my appearance into this world, so they probably came along with me.

News has been spread that a city in the south was completely annihilated because a large swarm of creepers came out of the local 'Dungeon' and destroyed the city wall, letting all the other monsters into the city in the middle of the night.

Anyway, the reason I want to experiment was because of the other things that I hold in my inventory.

When I was reborn into this world, the items that I held onto in Minecraft came along with me.

I currently have 1 Enchantment table, 13 Blaze rod, 64 Glow Stone (a full stack), 4 Netherrack, 2 Nether wart, 1 Melon seed, 6 Soul Sand, 64 block of red stone, and 13 potatoes.

I don't think I need to explain how showing off all these things would be very bad for me, right? None of them are things that I can casually take out from the inventory.

Sigh... I really wish I have a secret base or something.

I heard three knocking sound from the small window in the Naughty room.

I took a look at the minimap, and saw that it was Grace outside.

I opened the window and said, "Isn't it dinner time? What are you doing here? Aren't you going to go have dinner?"

Grace timidly shoved something into my hands, and left after a quickly muttered "... For you."

Oh, its a piece of bread.

How thoughtful.

* * *

TN: I decided to fix a mistake.

In the previous chapter, the term "Villager" was used, but now I am going to use "Commoner" in the future.

I hope people will be less confused that way.


	5. Chapter 4: Torches are essential

After dusk has fallen, it became much darker, forcing me to back track and create a [Furnace].

I can use the [Furnace] after murmuring "Activate" to it. I do the same thing when using the [Crafting Table] and my [Inventory] sometimes, depending on what I am trying to do.

After activating the interface, there were two slots. The slot on the top is where I place the thing I want to burn, the one below is for the fuel I want to use. Once both slots are filled, the furnace automatically processes whatever was placed inside.

With that said, I placed two blocks of wood into it.

According to the mechanics of Minecraft, its possible to make charcoal by burning a block of wood in the furnace, and after a little while, I saw that there was indeed a black piece of charcoal that was previously a block of wood on the top. The wood I placed below disappeared as it was obviously used up as fuel.

After placing a wooden stick and a piece of charcoal together, I managed to craft four [Torches]. It's now possible to enter the mountains in the dark now.

With my [Mini-map] still active, it should be easy to avoid any hostiles on the way as long as I don't get careless. The [Torch] doesn't need to be placed on something before they can be used, so four [Torches] should tide me over for the night. I wonder if the [Torch] has some sort of duration time since this is now real life? It's not like they could burn forever... like in Minecraft.

But I believe I should bring a weapon with me just in case. Therefore, I crafted a [Stone Sword].

The first objective to this exploration of the mountain, is to find a vein of ores to mine.

In Minecraft, ores usually appear close to each other, so if you see one block of coal, then several other blocks of coal should be very close. This collective of ores is called a vein.

I have done my research in the library of the Orphanage, and deduced from the fact that the village that I currently live in was previously a mining town a long time ago. But they got very little profit from mining, and ultimately switched to farming.

The reason they did not have profit was not because that there was nothing valuable to mine, but rather it costs them too much to mine, and whatever they could sell would not cover the costs effective enough to make a big profit.

With that said, since no one is mining the mountains anymore, I would be the sole person to benefit from this venture if I find anything valuable. I wonder what I can find in the caves and abandoned mine shafts.

...

...

...

Of course I wouldn't enter a cave or abandoned mine shaft unprepared! Do you think I look prepared now? Do you think I am an idiot?

This isn't a game! (Although it certainly looks, and feels like one)

I don't want to die then find out that I only had one chance at life.

My second objective is to find a place where I can set up my secret base of operation.

There are a lot of things that I want to experiment with, such as brewing potions, and my Minecraft related abilities.

I already have one of the necessary ingredient to brew a potion: a [Nether Wart].

But I only have two of them in my [Inventory], so I need a way to produce them first.

Producing [Nether Wart] is not such a big problem, since I also have some [Soul Sand] for it to grow on, six [Soul Sands] to be precise.

The problem is that the [Soul Sand] is... very... weird...?

When the block of [Soul Sand] is placed on the ground, it starts to emit a miserable moaning sound, as if whatever soul is inside the sand is in pain.

I don't know whether if the [Soul Sand] has any souls in it like the name implies, but I definitely don't want other people to witness that.

The chances that there are indeed souls inside the sand is higher than I like. Since [Soul Sand] came from the Nether dimension of Minecraft. Speaking of which, if [Nether Wart] can only be planted and grown on [Soul Sand], does that mean that the [Nether Wart] absorbs nutrient from the...?

No, no, no. I am not going to think about it.

In any case, the production of potions and experimentation of my abilities cannot be safely conducted inside the village without causing trouble, so I thought why not do it else where, like in the mountains? Because if I do any of that inside the village, I might get persecuted for being a Necromancer by imprisoning souls into objects... and growing questionable plants... as well as having questionable abilities.

* * *

As I walked through the tall grass towards the mountain, I was starting to think about what I wanted from my secret base.

Speaking of a secret base, the first requirement that I'm looking for is to have it in a place that is hard to find. A place that can easily offer a lot of privacy.

Maybe I should just dig a tunnel in the mountain, then expand it.

Sure, let's stick to that idea.

There are usually many trees near mountains, and this time is no exception either. I stepped into the forest and I never thought that real forests - especially in the night - would be so lively. I always imagined a forest to be a tranquil and calm place. But right now I am hearing all sorts of sound from my surroundings. Owls are hooting, insects are chirping... and other various unidentifiable sounds.

Well, technically I could identify all of them with my [Mini-map] if I wanted to, but I have changed the settings so that they will not leave a mark on my radar. I am glad that I did this, since it could possibly overload my entire [Mini-map] with countless little dots.

But I can still detect poisonous insects and hostile vermin, so that's alright.

Oh? There seem to be two slimes that are moving together not too far away from me.

[Small Blocky-Slime_LV5_HP:8/8_Title: None] and [Small Slime_LV2_HP:5/5_Title: None]

At least that was what I see from the [Damage Indicator]. It's has other useful mod information aside from telling you how much health something has.

The Small Blocky-Slime retains its traded mark jump sound from Minecraft. While the other regular Small Slime is crawling slowly while making a kind of bubbling sound.

Well, I am somewhat glad that the mobs from Minecraft seem to be able to safely co-exist with the local monsters. This is the first time I have actively witnessed this phenomena though.

Both of the slimes are no bigger than the palms of my hand - and since I am seven - they are quite small indeed.

Although both of them are technically monsters, hostile beings that will attack anyone on sight, the slimes in Minecraft are not aggressive as long as they are not at a reasonable size. And the small slime just seems to ignore me.

... Ah, now would be a good time to try out my [Stone Sword].

I slashed each of the slimes once, and to my surprise, when the Blocky Small-Slime broke apart in one hit, the other was only slowly coalescing, molding back together.

I guess they have different characteristics?

I seem to recall from our monsterology classes that slimes usually possess the [Physical Damage Resistance] skill.

I swatted it a second time, and successfully killed it.

I think I heard an echoing voice in my head that said "You're LV has increased to 2".

Oh my, seems like the rules of this world are truly different. I hope there are more beneficial effects for me to discover.

I have no idea how much my stats have increased, so I guess the first thing I do when I go back is to find the [Stone Tablet of Identification] to find out.

The Blocky-Slime from Minecraft dropped a [Slimeball], just as usual. While the other slime melted away and left behind its [Core]. Huh, the things they drop are different too.

Since I was starting to get hungry, I munched on some bread as I made my way closer to the mountains.

...Exploring the wild in the dark of the night. That's definitely something that normal [Peasants] wouldn't be doing.

If the Nuns in the Orphanage find out, I would probably be in loads of trouble.

The young nun with an impressive bust is called Maany, while the old hag is called Maressa. All the kids call Maressa old hag behind her back because she is very strict and mean.

Oh, it seems like my [Detector Mod] came along with me into this new life.

Using the [Detector], I managed to find that the distance between the abandoned mine shaft and where I am right now is around a hundred metres. If the different colored dots on the [Detector] are any indications, there seems to be a lot of interesting things inside.

Since its abandoned, I guess I would be safe to mine to my heart's content without anyone finding out.

Then I looked around and found that there was an area with fewer amount of trees that is about fifty metres away from here.

If I can organize that area, it would probably become a great secret base.


	6. Chapter 5: Daily Life in the Orphanage

It's four in the morning.

The other commoners are still asleep, but I am already working in the farm.

Grace was crouching on the ground near my farm, when she waved a piece of white bread - something that I crafted - toward my face questioningly.

"... Walson, no breakfast?"

White Bread (in all shapes and forms, be it toast or bagel or whatever) was a daily commodity back on Earth. But in this world, it can only be afforded by the wealthy. People in this world usually ate black bread, which was actually BLACK, and not the deep brown kind of color that people on Earth associate with black bread.

It's small and really, really, REALLY hard. You know how sometimes French Baguettes are hard enough that they can be used as bludgeons? In this case, it's like chewing on a piece of black rock for breakfast. And since most Orphanages are stereo-typically poor, that's what we normally eat in the morning.

Case in point, the reason why Grace almost seems to be worshiping the white and fluffy delicious piece of bread she is holding in her hands.

Naturally, the fact that I have this kind of white bread around is a secret. Otherwise it would cause a big commotion in our village.

"I will eat after I finish my chores." I said to Grace while I threw the hoe in my hands away, before immediately using another one. The hoe I dropped on the ground just now was supplied by the Orphanage, and the hoe I am currently using is the one I crafted with the Minecraft crafting recipe.

There is honestly no need for me to compare the normal hoe and the Minecraft hoe.

By using the Minecraft hoe, I automatically turn the area surrounding the spot where I softly tap, into farmland. I don't need to use any force or strength behind the tap, just enough for it to count. Truthfully it feels like using a paint brush and dotting the canvas. It's a wonderfully efficient tool, allowing me to be able to quickly finish my farm chores in record speed.

I am no farmer, but I think being able to do this is totally cheating.

Over-powered reincarnated people and their cheat-like powers aside, I guess I have my own sort of OP-ness after being reincarnated despite having nothing flashy.

I am nine years old right now.

(Yes, the last chapter happened two years ago, but I don't really care.)

In our Orphanage, all the children who are older than nine are assigned chores, work, or training, depending on their talents every single day.

The children who have the talent for magic will start to do rudimentary control exercises, same for the Fighter children. They also have the option to become auditors in the classes for children that are ten years old or older, but most children don't do that and wait until they are ten and attend fully.

But in the case of commoners, one would only be able to farm. Ideally, it would be great to send children off to the village smithy or inn, or other shops to learn the trade, but it is for some reason, not possible.

There are approximately sixty children in our Orphanage right now, and around sixty percent (36 children) are commoners. All of the commoners are given the burden to sustain the orphanage with hard labor while the others train.

In other words, we're slaves. Woohoo~~~

Any way, people back on earth said that "High school never ends", and that school is just a small projection of society. It is also true in this case, where there are the ones that are higher up the ladder, and the ones lower down the ladder.

How cruel.

Being alive truly sucks.

But then again, I guess dying wouldn't really be an improvement. I'm speaking from experience here.

Back to the subject, since I am nine, I am now one among many that is providing for the Orphanage by farming.

All commoners that are nine years or older are given a small piece of land, and were instructed to produce something, anything really, out of it. Our daily work consists of planting, weeding, vermin exterminating, fertilizing, plowing, etc. And so long as you do your job, no one will bother you.

Miniature version of "Contract Responsibility System".

I felt that "this was truly godsent" the moment I was told all of this. Normally it would take at least eight to ten hours to do all the work, but thanks to my special abilities, I can handle everything within one hour.

After that? I can just go off into the mountains, to my secret base, and do whatever I want. Isn't it wonderful?

Although old hag Maressa constantly patrols and is on the look-out for people slacking-off, she has no objections for me since I have done all of my work perfectly. And since I also have my [Mini-map], it's impossible for her to catch me unless I wanted her to.

* * *

The mines in the mountains still has various ores inside that I took advantage of, and I have entered it many times within the span of two years.

Honestly, I was completely surprised by how little there was for me to mine. No wonder the village did not want to depend on the mining industry for income.

But the things I can find in the mines are more than enough for one person: me.

I have found Iron ores, Coal, and a very small amount of Mithril.

It's been two years since I have started to explore the mines, but I still couldn't find a lot of Mithril. Only got give kilograms total.

As for why other people did not think of mining individually for profit... I guess it's because of the monsters inhabiting the mines. Our village does not have anyone renown for their battle prowess, and there was also no reason to explore the mines.

The monster population in the mines isn't very dense, but the monsters are all around LV15. Not particularly strong, and their greatest strength usually lies in the element of surprise. Since I have my [Mini-map], it is virtually impossible to ambush me, so I am pretty safe.

Seriously though, anything above LV10 is enough to threaten the lives of commoners, and LV15 in particular is quite dangerous for newbie fighters and mages.

In our Orphanage, none of the children are higher than LV5. Even the children who are already taking classes for fighters and mages.

I am the exception since I have been doing a lot of different activities inside my secret base and the mountains. I've been mining, experimenting with crafting recipes, experimenting with plants, and occasionally hunt or kill monsters. So I am LV15 right now.

By the way, it is possible to gain EXP for a lot of actions. Sewing, running, swimming, organizing, smithing, farming, and sometimes even sleeping. But the best way to gain EXP is still hunting monsters.

As of now, the only person in our village whose LV is anywhere close to mine, would be the old geezer that owns the antique shop.

So I have a pretty damn high LV for a commoner! Don't look down on me.

But since no one would just randomly use a [Stone Tablet of Identification] on people in the village, this hasn't been found out yet. It will probably cause an uproar if anyone knew.

I have been experimenting extensively, and came to the conclusion that this world shares a lot of features with the world of Minecraft. When crafting, it is possible to replace the ingredient that is unique to Minecraft with something that is more common to this world.

For example, a [Potion of Healing] from Minecraft would require a [Glistering Melon], something that requires one piece of watermelon and eight gold nuggets.

I have the water melon part covered, since I got the seeds and it's just the matter of planting and harvesting them. But how the flipping nether am I going to get gold nuggets? As I have stated before, I found Iron, I found Coal, I even found Mithril, but not a single scrap of gold.

Therefore, I had to find a substitute. A replacement.

There exists a somewhat rare medicinal herb called [Malbor] in this world majorly used to create healing products. I am not a plant expert, so the best physical description of [Malbor] I can give you, is that it looks like grass, but not like the common grass on the ground.

I was made aware of its existence through reading the books in the Orphanage, and found them growing in the wild forests near the mountains. It's not easy for [Malbor] to grow, and harder still for it to grow in large quantities. Yet the amount of [Malbor] that I needed to create a [Potion of Healing] was double the amount of [Malbor] the apothecary would need to create a healing potion.

I took the seeds back to my base, and grew them that way. Today is the day that I can finally harvest the [Malbor] I planted in the base.

So far, I have been able to brew three bottles of the potion, but I have never had the chance to truly try it out. I am certain that it can be used to heal, but unaware of its effectiveness.

* * *

So, back to Grace.

"Hey Grace, what did you learn today?" I asked Grace this question as I put my Minecraft hoe into my [Inventory].

I just finished the work that was required for my farm today while I was explaining some of the things I was doing in the past two years to all of you. I still say that the Minecraft hoe is wonderfully efficient.

I turned towards Grace, and saw that she was holding out a bowl of water for me.

"... I can freely control small fires and air now." Waving her small wand, Grace made a fireball that was the size of her fists, then added wind with a twirl, changed it into a small swirling vortex of fire.

"Wow, amazing." Oh, I really want to use magic too...

Sadly, I do not have the talent for it, and my mana pool was also pitifully small.

"... Walson."

"Yes?" I watched the swirling fire vortex dissipate.

"... Reward." Grace stood up from her crouch, and held her head low to look at me.

Grace has grown taller in two years, and is now taller than me by a forehead.

Well, she used to be an Enderman. I guess she is definitely going to keep growing taller.

I awkwardly lifted my hand to pat her on the head.

"Err, sure, sure. Good job Grace." I also rubbed her head softly.

She was blushing, and wiggling. I take this as a sign that she is enjoying it. She appears to be physically imposing because of her size, calm and collected, sometimes stoic. But that is only in appearance.

Grace is very quiet. She rarely talks, only when necessary, usually in shortened words or sentences. She still has her cute moments, and is not as cold as she appears to be. She seems to really like being affectionate with me.

Ahhhh, I can feel all the Moe.

She is taller, but I still think of her as a Loli.

So cute, so Moe.

If it wasn't for the fact that she had to train and chose to attend magic lessons, I really wished to take her to my secret base and just play.

Since she liked the White Bread so much, I wonder how she will react to all the other different kinds of food I have in my secret base?


	7. Chapter 6: In The Secret Base

Winter has come to our village.

I was in the farming area of my secret base, spreading [Bone Meal] on the [Malbor] grass, when a chilly winter breeze brushed past me. I quickly harvested them in case the weather would make any unfavorable changes that I didn't like.

Turns out that I can use [Bone Meal] on any sort of plant and make it instantly grow, even if the plants weren't originated or related to the ones in Minecraft. There exists local equivalents of fertilizers in the village and the farmlands, but none of them are effective enough to make plants immediately mature, like the [Bone Meal], once they are applied.

Since I have hunted both animals and monsters inside the mountains, I gathered the bones and crafted them into [Bone Meal] with the [Crafting Table]. I have no idea whether if its because of the special qualities of the Minecraft [Crafting Table] or if it's because monster bones have special properties in it. But in any case, my [Bone Meals] are irreplaceable to my experimentation on the [Malbor] grass.

[Malbor] is rare, and I bet there exists rarer plants elsewhere in this world. I really don't want other people to know about my [Bone Meal], people would probably go to war for it.

As mentioned before, [Malbor] is used for healing products, primarily this world's equivalent of healing potions, the [Malbor Potion]. I have successfully brewed three [Potions of Healing] by substituting one [Glistering Melon] with a copious amount of [Malbor] grass, and I decided to call this version the [Malbor Potion of Healing].

Yes, its a very lame name, I know. I even found the name to be hilarious myself.

The normal [Malbor Potions] are costly healing products, and I had caught a few glimpses of it inside the village apothecary. The color of the potion is much duller than my own bright red [Malbor Potion of Healing] by several shades. I guess my version is much more concentrated.

I have no idea how the actual [Malbor Potions] are made, but I know I made my [Malbor Potion of Healing] with a [Brewing Stand] from Minecraft.

Putting in the [Malbor] grass that I just harvested into the [Brewing Stand], I started my second batch of [Malbor Potion of Healing].

You all must be wondering how I got a [Brewing Stand]? Well, remember all the different kinds of stuff I found inside my [Inventory] the first time around? There were several [Blaze Rods] that I used to make a [Brewing Stand]. **{ _1}_**

I can substitute unique ingredients with other things, but I doubt I can substitute a [Brewing Stand], since it is part Minecraft's essential mechanics like the [Crafting Table], [Furnace], and [Enchantment Table].

The [Brewing Stand] can make three potions at one go, and the amount of time it requires to make [Malbor Potion of Healing] is three hours, the time is very long in comparison to normal Minecraft potions. I have not had the chance to make any other potions yet, so I have no idea whether if three hours is the norm.

I am extremely curious to how effective the [Malbor Potion of Healing] could be.

Since [Malbor Potion] by itself can sell for a very good price already, I could potentially sell my own [Malbor Potion of Healing] in the future. If I decide to not sell any potions, I can also sell a huge amount of [Malbor] by abusing the [Bone Meal] as well.

My, my, my.

Great opportunities for me to become a merchant or trader.

I have made my decision. I am definitely going to be a merchant in the future.

* * *

I have been making improvements for my secret base through the years.

My most important objective after I have successfully created the secret base, was to make a washroom.

Yup, you heard me right. My first priority was to make a washroom.

In this medieval-like world, people do not think their person hygiene is very important. It's not unusual to have not cleaned oneself for more than a week, but generally, respectable people always make sure to bathe once every three days. At least, that's what I know is happening in our village. I have no idea if people outside of this village take a bath once every day, or once every month for all I know.

My world view is pitifully small right now. It's just the village and I.

Anyway, there is a very small public bath available in the village, but since its the only one in the entire village, it is usually crowded in some way or other, leaving the less privileged in our village unable to clean themselves properly.

And as we all know, poor orphans don't count as being privileged.

The children in our Orphanage usually go to the streams to dunk themselves every once and while. This is typically tameless method for cleaning, but also our only option. It's almost impossible to willingly dunk in a river or stream in winter, not to mention they are often frozen solid. So the smell gets horrifying very quickly in that season.

Therefore, as someone who showered once a day in their previous life, I decided to create a washroom in my private 'home away from home'.

I first used chopped bamboo and wood, coupled with stone, to create the space.

Then I dug a big hole, got rid of the sand and mud as best as I could, and placed cobblestones all over the hole.

The water is taken from the pure spring water of the mountains, where I diverted it into my heater.

My heater has two levels in it. The first level is where the water first comes in, and the second is where the water is heated. I used lit [Netherrack] that will burn forever to heat my water. _**{2}**_

The heated water will then go into my washroom, and when I need to get rid of the spent water, I just open a water gate to let it all go.

It's a bit more troublesome in winter, where most of the water is frozen solid. I just take buckets of snow to the heater and do it that way.

So that was how I created my personal hot spring by using my knowledge and special abilities.

Oh, plus I made soap. Who knew science classes back in school would come in handy? It's a wonder that I even remember how to make them.

Since processed water do not hold _Water Elementals_ within them, it was also possible for Grace to have a hot bath.

But... I still haven't shown her the secret base yet. She is so busy with her classes and practices that I sincerely doubt there is the time.

One single _Commoner_ missing from the village would probably not create any fuss, but I doubt having a prodigal _Mage_ like Grace disappear for a day would be alright. I sincerely do not wish to have my secret base discovered.

The swirling fire vortex from last time is something that only Grace can do. Normally that kind of thing will need a precise and slightly long spell chant to cast it as a spell, but Grace can do it by simply manipulating the elements with her will.

She became an idol and was admired for her talents in the Orphanage. She is no longer bullied, and the bullies even became her admires. Said 'admires' might refuse to acknowledge the fact that they admire her though, because children and adolescent are often needlessly rebellious.

But it was obvious to me that they admired her. Some even had a crush.

She no longer needed my protection. There was no one that threatened her, and she also had the abilities to protect herself now.

Ah, this bitter sweet feeling. Is this what fathers feel like when watching their precious princess grow up? Not that Grace was mine, but I felt responsible for her.

On the other hand, because I am friends with Grace, I am being targeted.

My tools are often hidden or taken away by other children, seeing it as a chance to inconvenience me. But the things they can take away are the ones that I never needed, so I just let them do what they wanted. Not like they can reach into my [Inventory] to touch the things that truly matter.

Who would need that stupid hoe given by the Orphanage when I have the Minecraft one on my person?

* * *

There was a loud howl coming from the mountains that startled me when I was just getting ready to take a bath in the mini-hot spring.

It came from the directions of the abandoned mines. It's probably the [Mountain King].

He is the most powerful entity in this area. A LV33 wolf that is big enough to put Elephants to shame.

I almost pissed myself in fear the first time I saw him.

But what the [Mountain King] is doing is none of my business.

...

...

...

With that said, there was immediately a man-like scream coming from the same direction.

"Ahhh! AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Who would approach the abandoned mines?

Oh no! I built a temporary shelter near the mines so I don't need to go between the secret base and the mines all the time whenever I want to work.

If they discover that shelter, then that means there is a very high chance that they can find my secret base too!

I have to get out there and find out what's happening.

* * *

{1} HoGa stated that he did not like the fact that blaze powder was required to operate the brewing stand. Although it was not explicitly stated whether if the mechanic that requires the use of blaze powder was replaced by other, more local world equivalents, or removed all together in the fanfiction.

{2} Since netherrack will burn forever, I told HoGa that it was possible to create a perpetual motion machine (a device that can go on forever) by taking a small piece of [Netherrack], put it in the [Furnace], light it on fire, then connect it to a [Minecart]. He stated that it might make a special appearance in the future after chapter 70 or so.


	8. Chapter 7: King of the Mountains

[Arkon_Phantasmal Wolf_LV33_HP:4997/5003_Status: Normal_Title: Mountain King]

Oh.

My.

God.

It's that frighteningly high number of health again.

Every time I make contact with him, I always feel unsettled by that monstrous amount of health he has.

By the way, the [Phantasmal Wolf] part? It's related to the life forms and species that exist in this world.

There is a system that is related to a being's level of threat. Animals with special qualities or magical abilities are the [Magical Animals/Beasts], [Monsters] are commonly acknowledged to be a nuisance at best, and hostile at worst, then there are the [Phantasmal Beasts]. Despite being called "Phantasmal", they are solid and corporeal, instead of being see through or phantom like. It is because that the [Phantasmal Beasts] in question hold a lot of power that are beyond mortal comprehension that they gained the name.

With powers beyond mortal comprehension, it is safe to say that they are strong enough to cause huge-scaled disasters. They are often intelligent, or hold a certain amount of sapience that makes them even more dangerous.

Also, despite the [Mountain King] being the only living thing that is anywhere near LV33 in the general area, therefore the one with the highest LV, the LV is truly not that high if you think about it in the long run. It's only 33% of the 100%, and I even read about a theory in the books that the LV limit is nowhere as small as LV100. If it were any other normal [Monster] that was LV33, it can be easily taken care of with the correct preparation and procedures.

But it's a [Phantasmal Beast].

I believe all of you know that a majority of animals cannot recognize themselves in a mirror? In this case, I can deduce that the wolf has a certain amount of self-awareness and self-identity that it has given itself a name.

If they have enough intelligence to do that, then don't you think its frightening to imagine what else can they do?

I stood in front of the entrance of the abandoned mine, with dozens of dead bodies littered all over the place. All the corpses had collars made out of iron or bronze on their neck... are they slaves?

If they are slaves, then these people probably came from outside the village. The village has a handful of slaves, nowhere near the number of corpses on the ground.

The slaves that are already dead aside, the ones that are still alive are being attacked by the [Mountain King]'s underlings, namely, the wolves in the pack.

I know that this might seem apathetic, and maybe even _wrong_ , but I do not wish to interfere with whatever it is that's going between the [Mountain King] and the slaves. Since they are outsiders that came to here unannounced, I also hold no attachments to them to make myself care, or the obligations to assist them.

What I am more concerned about is my temporary camp and shelter.

Nooooooooo~~~

Everything is being destroyed! This is a disaster! _**{1}**_

Judging by the objects and items that are lying on the ground haphazardly, I think the slaves were mining.

They probably came unarmed and unprepared. Otherwise, such a large group of slaves would not have been attacked - and eradicated - so easily.

Why did people enter the forests and mountains unarmed AND unprepared in the first place? This can't even be called a battle anymore. The slaves cannot muster any resistance whatsoever.

Only several wolves were injured - light and superficial wounds at best - while almost all the slaves were routed. And would you look at the [Mountain King]! He only lost six health. Six!

But I don't want my camp being destroyed any further as it is. I think I need to intervene.

"Oh my, you've made quite a mess." I stepped out of the trees that covered me and shouted.

The [Mountain King] lifted his gaze from the chaos, and diverted it towards me. He is close to one of the smaller caves near the west side.

He is covered entirely in bright yellow golden fur, and stands over five metres tall on four legs. An average elephant back on earth would be four metres tall. He is super duper huge.

We maintained eye contact for a few moments, and then, he decided to turn his body towards my direction.

I hastily lifted a wall of cobblestones that I assembled in advance, and watched as the [Mountain King] breathed fire at me.

Oh.

My.

God.

A wolf can breathe fire.

A wolf can breathe fire!

A wolf that isn't just a simple wolf, but still, it can breathe fire!

It's not the first time I have encountered him, nor is it the first time that he has breathed fire at me, but it's still a shock whenever it happens.

I can feel the intense heat even through the thick wall of cobblestone that is between me and a hot death. The [Mountain King] is quite tempestuous and unreasonable most of the time despite being so intelligent.

* * *

So, you guys might be confused to how and why I suddenly got a wall of cobblestone? Well, this leads to my explanation to some of the experiments that I made through the years.

I have came to the realization that I have a sort of "Sphere of Influence", where anything that is within range of it, I can manipulate to a certain extent. I discovered this completely by accident, but boy am I happy that I did.

I can assemble different blocks in advance, then store it into my [Inventory] as long as it is not too large for my sphere of influence to manipulate. So think of it like making a 3x3 wall of cobblestone, and being able to put that thing into my [Inventory].

I dubbed this ability [Assembling]. I really couldn't find any other phrase or term.

There are still limits to this ability though. The things I assemble cannot be too huge or too complicated. The best I can do is assemble a wall or several stairs without needing to do it one block at a time.

Pulling the wall of cobblestone out is a very effective defensive maneuver that has rarely failed me yet. And since the wall of cobblestone has underwent [Conversion], and hold similar properties to cobblestones in Minecraft, it has a paradoxical quality of hardness in it.

Paradoxical in the case that - be it slashing, smashing, bashing, etc - would not leave a scratch on it at all unless they continuously hit the exact same spot for a set period amount of time. Even if it did leave a scratch, it miraculously mends itself when left alone for a few seconds.

Even though almost everything in Minecraft was vulnerable to explosion, I have tested out the wall of cobblestones can still be an effective guard against explosions, just not as effective when it is used to block other methods of attacks.

I always make sure that I have at least one or more walls of stone that I assembled in advance whenever I confront the [Mountain King].

The [Mountain King] and I have a very strange relationship.

Normally, it would have been impossible to never have monsters attack my secret base and the abandoned mines. But I struck a deal with the [Mountain King], and he marked the territory as 'off-limits' and drastically reduced the number of monsters that would stick close to those areas.

Namely, he comes to take a piss whenever he feels like it, then go off to do his own thing.

We had a very intense meeting at the first time around. He attacked me, and I retaliated.

It is obvious that I am not strong enough to take him by my own, so you must be wondering how I am still alive?

I was frantic and desperate when I shoved gunpowder I collected by slaying the Minecraft [Creepers]into a detonator (thin explosive sticks) and threw them at the [Mountain King]. Using those as a weapon and using my cobblestone walls, it gave me enough of an edge to survive. We went back and forth for a very long time, and when I was just about to give up and drop, he suddenly stopped attacking me.

Turns out, he was attracted to my position because of the food I had on my person. Namely, the cured meat that was inside my [Inventory].

Well, to be fair, it's not exactly cured meat. I just don't know what else to call it.

I produce these meat jerkies through a lengthy process of salting them, marinating them, cooking them, etc. They could be technically called bacon, but that's such an over-simplified version of it that I decided to not call it that.

And let me tell you. They are delicious.

So I really couldn't fault the [Mountain King]'s curiosity, and gave him some.

It was how we started this strange relationship. I would periodically place my "offering" of cured meat in a spot that he frequents, and he will grant me his protection.

* * *

"Alright, Alright! Please calm down and stop destroying my things! Or do I need to beg and prostrate myself before the Mighty Arkon? King of All the Mountains in the World?" I stepped out from behind the wall of stone I erected, and found a snarling wolf visage directly in my field of view.

Sarcasm aside, he might attack me again if I don't go over-the-top with my words.

He gave me a huff as answer.

I clutched more of the detonators in my hand and checked the [Mini-map] to make sure none of his underlings are going to attack me.

Huh? I see something else on the [Mini-map].

There seems to be someone alive, a survivor among all the dead bodies.

The [Mini-map] indicated that the person was right behind the [Mountain King], inside the small cave.

I took a peek, and found a girl that looked like they were no older than ten years old. She wore dirty rags, and had a slave collar around her neck.

She also has dark red hair, but I am uncertain whether if the color is natural, or if it was dyed red due to all the blood.

But she has no ears. There are bluish, scaly, fin looking things.

Looking more closely, I noticed that she has more purple-bluish scales around her cheek and limbs, with a tail of the same color.

Her right leg is a complete stump. It's bleeding heavily.

Judging from the trail of blood on the ground, she probably tried to escape into the caves.

[Nameless Lizardkin_LV5_HP: 4/41_Status: "Bleeding", "Hunger", "Parkinson's Disease"_Title: Masterless Slave]

Nameless? Does this mean she doesn't have a name?

Wait, four health?

She is only four health away from death?

I don't really want to have more people dying. You might think me cold and apathetic, but I still have standards of my own.

"How about I make you a deal? You can have all of these cured meat, and I get the girl behind you." I procured three small urns of the cured meat from my [Inventory] and placed them on the ground.

I was planning to take some to the village and let Grace have a taste, but I still got more stocks back at the base so I am fine with giving these away to save a life.

Did I ever mention that time completely stops inside my [Inventory]? The things inside will never spoil or break since time isn't flowing.

The same principle applies to the [Chests] I crafted. I have a lot of them inside the secret base to store my things.

The [Mountain King] just kept growling at me for a while, but doesn't seem to relent.

Seems like it's not enough to placate him.

"If that's the case, then you can have the Cured Miltow Beef too." I took out a big urn and placed it on the ground too.

Miltow is a kind of wild cow that usually live deep inside the mountains. Their LV are higher than mine, and had very good stats, they also get enraged when provoked so it was difficult for me to get these. I had to lay traps and ambush them for two weeks straight.

The beef is tender, had a slight sweetness to the taste, and had a very chewy texture. It should get me a handsome price if I get to sell it

It seems like adding the Cured Miltow Beef was the right decision since it gave another huff and eased itself from the previously threatening pose, leaping away and into the woods in one big jump.

The underlings came forward and took the urns into their mouth, then followed their leader away from this place.

I immediately dashed to the lizardkin girl, and tried to ascertain her well-being... or lack thereof.

There are a lot of fallen scales on the ground that I assumed was originally hers, and there were more injuries than the ruined leg that was leaking blood.

"You're injuries are sever. Hang in there!" I muttered under my breath while I fished through my [Inventory] for the [Malbor Potion of Healing].

Time to see what this costly thing can do.

* * *

{1} Minaly22: Well done Walson. Thinking that your temporary camp/shelter being destroyed is more of a disaster than people being attacked by wolves is.


	9. Chapter 8: The Slave's Perspective

_**First chapter of the double update**_

* * *

...*Sigh*...

Is this how dying feels like?

Am I going to die?

Being left on the cold hard ground, all by my lonesome?

How cruel.

This world is cruel.

I am a Lizardkin born in Falmarno.

There is a legend in my home land, that says "Your life will flash by you as you die."

I watched my life play out before my weary eyes.

Being born into a family, as the seventh child.

With three brothers and three sisters that are older than me.

Our family lived happily inside our village in the forests.

But then I was born.

The chances of a successful birth was low, and my parents did not anticipate my survival.

Our kind will lay white eggs in clutches, and my mother had seven eggs, but only six of them were white.

Mine was purple.

And even as I grew, the color of my scales were different than that of my family. I was also born with the necessary talent to become a [Fighter].

With talent, comes potential power. All Lizardkins respect and strive for power. I could have been stronger than all of my siblings, and perhaps be the strongest in the village.

"Could have been" being the keyword.

I was shunned and mistreated due to the color of my scales.

They call me cursed, and they bully me, belittle me, even actively try to expel me from the village.

Even my Father.

Sometimes I get a punished for reasons such as "They got hurt when trying to hit you, so it's your fault".

But thankfully I had my kind-hearted mother, and there were other villagers that helped me as well, they often smuggle food to me when I am purposely starved.

That was how I lived.

But Lizardkin are a patriarchal society. When the patriarch of the family makes a decision, people outside of the family would not interfere with it.

And thus I was abused by my own father.

I don't know how to live my future in a home like this. How can I achieve my future potential as a [Fighter]?

And one day, when my mother was trying to give me food without letting my father know, she was killed.

My mother was killed by the hand of my drunken father.

He strangled her and twisted her neck with a loud snap. She became cold and still, forever.

My only hope was gone, forever, as well.

Then, on one other day, a slave trader came into our village. The trader saw that I had the potential to become a [Fighter].

The trader left a big barrel of alcohol in our house, and my father just let the trader take me away.

I was too far into despair at that point to care that I became a slave.

Usually, slave traders would take their slaves to the slave market, in order to "pretty them up" and try to get a better price for them.

But the slave trader that took me met a merchant on the road, and in a blink of an eye, I was sold to the merchant.

The merchant threw two pieces of black bread, and a pickaxe at me.

Our entourage had other slaves that were in better physical condition than me, and they received the same things.

The merchant was on his way to an abandoned mine.

And turns out there was a rumor that there was some _Mithril_ in the mines.

But because the amount of _Mithrill_ was simply too small, the mining guild didn't bother to try and mine it on their own.

I didn't think further on this. After all, I was just a slave.

But when I entered the area surrounding the mines, I immediately thought that something wasn't right.

The place was supposed to be abandoned, yet there was a simple camp that is clean and organized.

And three days afterwards, we were in big trouble.

We were assailed by wolves that came out of nowhere.

None of them were any regular, animal kind of wolves. They were magical beasts.

If it were just magical wolves, then it might not have been too bothersome, but they were very organized, as if there was a puppet master behind the strings, telling them what to do.

Such as tactically cutting off our escape routes and surrounding us.

The merchant, our master, simply ordered everyone to "sacrifice themselves and save him" and escaped on his own.

The other slaves were slowly killed off, one by one.

I was never in good physical condition due to my abuse, and lost a leg before I could even try to fight back.

At this point, a gigantic wolf with golden, shining fur, emerged from the forests, with the dead merchant dangling between its fangs.

With my master's death, I was released from the magically binding slave contract.

The other slaves also came to the same realization, and everyone tried to escape.

But as each escape attempt failed, and each of them being killed afterwards, they all lost hope.

I dragged my battered body through the cave, with the last of my survival instinct driving me to try and escape to a smaller cave on the sides.

The other wolves were occupied, and probably wouldn't have taken notice of me. But the gigantic golden wolf slowly approached.

I was going to die.

I was going to be eaten by the leader, the Alpha of the wolves.

But then, a voice rang out through the night.

"Oh my, you've made quite a mess."

The expression of the Alpha, previously being tranquil and indifferent, quickly turned into a furious snarl. It turned around and opened it's maw.

I completely froze in shock when fire came out of it. What is that? Fire magic?

The Alpha shot it's fire into the direction where the voice came from.

At that point, I've never witnessed monsters and animals using magic before, only ever heard of it.

What shocked me even more was the voice. It was the voice of a child.

As the fire from the Alpha dissipated, a wall of stone came into my vision.

A boy that looked perhaps one year younger than me stepped out from behind the wall.

The Alpha kept the furious snarling expression, but did not continue to attack the boy.

"Alright, Alright! Please calm down and stop destroying my things! Or do I need to beg and prostrate myself before the Mighty Arkon? King of All the Mountains in the World?"

The Alpha answered that with a huff.

The boy looked at me, his eyes completely widening in surprise.

"How about I make you a deal? You can have all of these cured meat, and I get the girl behind you." the boy somehow took out several urns from somewhere, almost like from thin air.

The Mighty Arkon simply continued to growl.

"If that's the case, then you can have the Cured Miltow Beef too." and once again, the boy almost seemed to conjure the urn. This time, the urn is much bigger.

Then, as my consciousness started to fade, I saw the King of the mountains leave, as the smaller wolves took the urns with them.

I heard the words "Your injuries are sever. Hang in there!" right before everything faded into darkness.

As years and years fly by, I couldn't help but think of this day, this moment where I am in your arms.

I am grateful.

If I wasn't picked up like a stray on that day, I would have never known what it was like to have a great meal.

I would have never known what it was like to laugh with joy, or how it is like to love someone.

To love someone enough to disregard my own safety.

I would have never known what my greatest joy, my source of happiness and contentment was.

O, my dear, beloved master.

* * *

 _ **TN:**_

This is like a side chapter. I am going to post this with the next one, together.


	10. Chapter 9: It all begins here

_**Second chapter of the double update.**_

* * *

If I were to bring this marvelous baby back to Earth, I would be rich.

Definitely rich.

Stinking rich.

I will most likely be swimming in gold.

I never expected the [Malbor Potion of Healing] to be able to regenerate limbs.

This is completely unheard of! I know it can be used to heal injuries, but I have never heard anyone mention any healing method close to growing new arms and legs in this world, and I doubt this could happen back on Earth until several centuries have gone by.

What the hell did I make? This is almost as good as a miracle cure.

Oh wait, I remembered something. It was said that healing potions in this world can only heal injuries, wounds, and restore vitality, but not cure any sickness or disease. I guess this isn't a miracle cure after all.

Therefore, using healing potions to try and cure statuses such as [Poison] would be pointless. Despite [Bleeding] being counted as an abnormal status, it's something that can be cured with healing potions in this world.

But still! This is astonishing! And fascinating.

I wonder what other potions will be like.

Speaking of which, I have theory related to curing status effects and diseases.

[Milk].

Yup, you heard me right. I said [Milk].

Within Minecraft, consuming a bucket of milk will immediately remove any and all negative status effects. Anything from poisoning, being on fire, blindness, withering, can be removed.

Err... slight correction. [Milk] also reduces positive status effects. So it removes status effects of all kinds, regardless of whether it's positive or negative.

Milk is an excellent consumable in times of need.

I have done a little test regarding [Milk]. After placing some bottles of milk in this world into my [Inventory], it gets [Converted] into Minecraft [Milk]. I have drank [Milk] once when I had a cold, and it successfully removed the sickness in a jiffy.

But I have no idea whether if drinking the converted [Milk] will do the same thing to other people as well. Is it only limited to me? Or can other people drink the [Milk] and be cured?

I pondered the use of [Milk] while I brought the unconscious Lizardkin into my secret base.

* * *

"Do you want more?" I asked the girl that was wolfing down the food that I offered.

She is currently on the bed that I have placed in the secret base, biting through more and more pieces of the white bread I crafted.

I also roasted some of my specially processed meat. There was a plate of it nearby, it's enticing aroma filling the room.

[Nameless Lizardkin_LV5_HP: 38/41_Status: "Parkinson's Disease"_Title: Masterless Slave]

Parkinson's Disease is something that is very common in this new world that I inhabit. Almost anyone can get it, it's almost like the common flu back on Earth. Anyone whose physical condition isn't at their peak can get it.

The girl simply continued to tearfully devour the food I gave her.

I really feel bad for her. This is probably one of the better meals she's ever had. She's thin as a bone.

I am just glad that it's delicious and tasty. I don't want others to end up not liking my food because it tastes bad.

I placed a bottle of [Milk] before her, and told her to drink it when she needs to wash the food down.

Walking towards my storage chests, I took out some leather and wolf fur.

Winter is almost upon us, I felt it was a good idea to make her some warm clothing.

Placing them on the [Crafting Table], I made them into a [Furry Wolf] set that includes a cap, a top, leggings, and boots.

Hey, don't mock my naming sense! I rather like [Furry Wolf].

... Strange... I didn't know the girl's sizes, but after crafting everything, it turned out to be exactly the right size.

I never noticed this when I made armor for myself in the past.

"Here, wear these. It's going to get cold soon." I placed the [Furry Wolf] clothing by the bed.

Now, how am I going to find a place for her to stay? I doubt I can take her to the Orphanage. She would probably be sent elsewhere.

Plus, I would get my ears scolded till they drop if I take her back with me.

I guess the best order of business is to help her settle into my secret base, and ask her to organize it for me when I am away?

I would need to ask for her consent though, so I turned towards the girl who was finishing off some scraps on the plate.

"Thank you... so much..." the girl wiped some tears from her eyes after she cleared the plate. I noticed that the bottle of [Milk] is already empty.

I checked her stats again.

[Nameless Lizardkin_LV5_HP: 38/41_Status: Normal_Title: Masterless Slave]

"It worked! It worked!" I started to move and jump in excitement.

[Milk] is now officially a miracle cure.

I am going to be sooooooo rich.

Wait, I think I should probably control myself. It's not good to act like a madman in front of strangers.

The girl was, indeed, giving me a confused look, staring at me as if I am some strange animal.

I cleared my throat to clear my thoughts.

And proceeded to take out a [Stone Tablet of Identification].

I found this tablet along the corpses and wreckage that was left behind in my, formerly, clean and organized camp, among the belongings of the dead. It was inside a broken cart, close to a wooden carriage.

The bloodshed was absolutely horrifying, the smell of blood, sweat, piss, shit, and rotting body parts permeated almost everything. I doubt I can get close without throwing up, so going mining anytime soon is out of the question.

I took all the dead bodies and burned them all at once, then I spread all the ashes into the woods.

May they all rest in peace.

It's been three days, and the girl only awoke just now. I have been sneaking out from the Orphanage more frequently in order to make sure everything is fine. There is a curfew and they also count head to make sure every body is present.

"My name is Walson. Is it alright for me to ask for your name?" I have absolutely no idea how to address her.

I even used the [Stone Tablet of Identification] on her once while she is asleep, and she was indeed, nameless.

But that initial scan showed me that she has the talent to become a [Fighter]. I really didn't expect that.

"My... father... never gave me one." she said timidly.

I winced in sympathy. Hopefully I didn't drag up any painful memories.

"Sorry..." I apologized. What else can I do but apologize in this situation?

I wanted to ask her more questions, but I thought it would be better not to.

"Don't worry Master. Y-You're too kind! You don't n-need to apologize to me." She stuttered slightly.

Oh, okay!

...

...

...

Hang on, what did she just call me?

"Master?" with me suddenly freezing up, she inquired in worry.

"Master? Me!?"

[Nameless Lizardkin_LV5_HP: 38/41_Status: Normal_Title: Walson's Slave]

Lo and Behold. The title stat changed right in front of my eyes.

What the nether is going on!? The title instantly changed when she called me master!

"Uhm, Master? Slaves are properties to the masters, and since my previous master died when you took me in... I... I am now your property now." She explained as I was still frozen in shock.

"Th-thank you for saving me. I will never forget your kindness." She then bowed to me while still sitting on the bed.

"A-anyway, let's get that collar off shall we?" I tried to change the subject.

But it backfired on me when tears started to well up in the girl's eyes.

"Y-you don't want me?" she gave me an extremely hurtful look.

Gosh darn it.

She is so cute!

Am I actually going to be a Master to a cute girl right now?

Master, Master, Aaaaah, does this mean I can do _ANYTHING_ to her?

No, no no no no no. Bad thoughts Walson, Bad thoughts.

Still, I am somewhat elated - and disgusted - to suddenly have a slave of my own.

She might be a Lizardkin, but I think she is really cute.

That tail. I really really want to touch her tail.

"... You're going to live here, and tidy up the place while I'm away."

"If that is what you wish, then of course."

Well, I guess she has given her consent?

"Uhm, you can freely use all of the things that is in here, be it furniture or food. I will teach you how to use some of them since they are unique. I will leave things in your hands since I won't be always here."

But I can't just keep calling her as 'girl' or 'slave'. I need to think of a name for her.

She gave me a very puppy-eye like look.

Nnngh. So cute!

"Your name from now on is Melon Liszar."

And from then on, the nameless girl has gained a name.

Years later, her name became a legend. But that's a story for another time.


	11. Chapter 10: Redstone Physics

"Master, I have been wondering, are you perhaps a [Magi-chemist]? I saw you create a wall."

"No, no. I am just a [Commoner]."

"Just a [Commoner]? I find that hard to believe."

"I will take that as a compliment."

"Huh? No I didn't mean to doubt you... Master is really strong to be able to fend off that golden wolf. I was just curious."

"... I didn't fend him off, not really." But we came to an awkward agreement, true.

"So, what is Master doing right now?"

Melon was standing right beside me, brimming with curiosity.

We are standing in a dark room, she must be wondering what I am trying to do here.

I just finished making a wooden training dummy, and proceeded to take it out from my [Inventory].

"You'll be training yourself with this dummy that is specifically designed for combat training." I patted the dummy.

Then I pulled a lever on the wall, and all the Redstone Lamp in the room were powered on, showering the entire room with light.

The wooden training dummy is one hundred and eighty centimeters tall, structurally divided into five parts with wooden protrusion all placed in different angles.

If you push one part, all of the other four parts will shift in different directions according to the cogs deep inside the entire contraption, making the wooden protrusions swipe around dangerously.

But... neither Melon and I are anywhere near one hundred and eighty centimeters tall. Melon wouldn't be able to utilize it completely yet, but I am certain she will grow taller in the future.

"Combat training?"

"Indeed! You have the necessary talent to become a [Fighter]. It would be a waste if you don't do anything with it."

"You really want me to train with this? You made it with me in mind?" Melon gave me a confused look.

"Yeah! Here, I will demonstrate" I pushed one of the wooden protrusions sticking out.

I had to quickly duck when one other wooden protrusion flew towards my head, then had to block another which aimed for my waist.

With a grunt, I gave it another shove, and the wooden protrusions quickly swirled in the opposite direction, and another assault accompanied the spin.

I decided to make a training dummy that was suited for bare handed combat and martial arts. It's always a good idea to be able to fight without weapons, because once you lose the weapon you depend on, your life will be forfeit.

Plus, using your entire body would increase general fitness. I thought it would be great for the malnourished Melon to start with.

Martial arts is always best practiced with another person who also knows martial arts though. The second best thing is to have a wooden dummy that can spin like this one, specifically used to sharpen your stance and forms.

I took inspiration from a Chinese Kung-Fu movie for the dummy. But unlike the clumsy contraption in the movie, mine is far more superior.

I named it [Spinning Dummy]!

... I am not even going to dignify all your pitying glances at my naming sense with a response.

Don't judge me!

There is a definite learning curve as long as the strength behind the blows are reasonable, and won't destroy the dummy in one hit. And since it spins and can build momentum, the harder you hit, the faster the dummy will spin.

Each of the wooden protrusions are positioned differently, with varying lengths. So the retaliations from the dummy will have a wide variety, hopefully enough to make it so who ever trains with it won't get too used to the patterns too quickly.

... Speaking of which, I quickly got overwhelmed and took several hits to the face. I cradled my swollen cheeks as I back away from the dummy.

I lasted less than fifteen seconds. I didn't think I would do THAT badly...

"That's the gist of it. So, do your best alright? Making this wasn't easy." Argh, it really hurts. I should probably get some ice later.

"...Thank you Master, I will keep that in mind." Melon was eyeing the wooden dummy excitedly, already raring to go, as if she just met a new best friend.

"If you're hungry, you can leaf through the food storage and take as much as you please, same with all the other things. Just make sure you don't make too much of a mess."

I had showcased most of the unique tools and furniture in the secret base to Melon.

Out of everything, she was most impressed by the hot-spring and the [Redstone Lamps].

The world we are living right now heavily relies on magic, so I doubt they have seriously considered the value and validity of science, which explains the extremely slow advance - and lack of technology.

By the way, [Redstone Lamps] are pretty much just like the electric lamps back on Earth.

Except it didn't run on electricity, but ran on the power in redstone circuits.

Redstones back in Minecraft had powers inside it, when mining Redstone ore, it will light up when being struck by a pickaxe.

Redstone is a power source all on its won, and placing a trail of redstone dust on something will act like a circuit for the power to travel.

Redstone torches are one of the main power sources, and much like a normal torch, will emit light. But this one will be alight forever, while emitting a lot less light.

In any case, Redstone torches are essentially an inexhaustible power source. It's ridiculous.

Having an infinite power source... this really feels like cheating.

However, I have realized that since redstone circuits are essentially a trail of powdered red dust, they can be easily displaced by extreme weather conditions such as rain or strong winds.

So I had to use oiled paper to make a protective layer for them, essentially creating a very primitive electric circuit that instead of using plastic, uses paper.

My secret base is extremely advanced in terms of technology right now. If I were to make a guess, it would be somewhere close to the stuff people had on Earth in 1950s, definitely superior to anything this world has to offer.

I had to resist the urge to puff my chest out in pride.

Ah, the sun is almost completely gone. I have to hurry back to the Orphanage.

I have a sandwich in my [Inventory] that I wanted to give to Grace. White Bread, fried eggs, and my special cured meat.

The white bread is made from the wheat I grew in the secret base, the eggs are Cockatrice eggs, and I fried them with deer oil.

I also painstakingly gathered rare herbs and spices deep in the mountains to compliment everything.

Naturally, I took the seeds of the herbs and spices and hope to grow them inside the secret base in the future.

"Don't stay up too late, alright?" I spoke to Melon for the last time that night, and departed, going back to the Orphanage.


	12. Chapter 11: Make a Party

And now, the end of Autumn is near. Winter is almost at our door step.

The children of the Orphanage completed their final harvest of the year, with the harvest done, preparations for the next winter was on full swing.

I, along with several other [Commoners] were weaving straw into straw mats.

We were also eavesdropping on Maany the busty nun who is in a class for [Fighters] and [Mages], teaching them some common knowledge.

"... If you have someone you trust, you can reach forward with your heart and create a bond with them. This connection is what we call a [Party], and people who are in the same [Party] will share the EXP that they gain, and can converse with each other from afar through Telepathy with the flow of mana."

She then proceeded to explain further about the Telepathic connection between party members.

In order to communicate with the party members with telepathy, a small amount of mana is required. But the amount is so minuscule that even [Commoners] can afford to use it.

Although it has been noted that averagely, [Commoners] need to be at least LV7 or higher to be able to frequently communicate with telepathy, otherwise, their small mana pool would easily be exhausted.

In my own mind, I thought that this telepathic link is very much akin to trading phone numbers. You share your phone number with someone you trust, and they can communicate with you that way.

Of course I know that is not the actual case, but I just thought this would be easier to understand.

This world really is like a game despite how it's real life.

I didn't expect the class to be talking about this particular subject today, and I guess I would have been shocked to hear this if it were the first time that I heard about it.

But Melon has briefed me about this already, so I'm not surprised to hear about the party system.

According to Melon, Master and Slave are already bound by a contract, and the contract induces a sort of 'forced' party bond between the two. So currently I am already in a [Party] with Melon. We currently share our EXP, and I can talk to her from a large distance.

I did not want to force Melon into anything, and I have expressed my desire to free her frequently, but she continues to refuse to break the Master & Slave connection that we have.

... I grudgingly accepted that she probably would never want the contract to be broken. And a part of me was okay with it, since having a cute girl call me "Master~ Master" all day long feels really great.

Urk, stop it. I need to get my head out of the gutter.

Anyway, as long as the Master's party has a vacant place for a party member, the slave will automatically join the party.

And after I named her Melon Liszar, I received this strange message inside my head.

{Melon Liszar (LV5) has joined the Party}

It's still possible to disband the party, but they will immediately rejoin, so I guess there is no point to it.

I really hope everything will be alright in the mountains during winter. Will Melon really be fine all on her own?

She has been living inside the secret base for a month, and she has brewed potions under my instruction, and continued to train diligently with the wooden dummy.

I suppose she wouldn't really need to leave the secret base and be at nature's mercy, since there is ample amount of supplies stored in the secret base, but I still can't help but worry for her.

Speaking of the wooden dummy, Melon is really scary. Her speed is so fast that I can hardly see anything when she is training with the spinning wooden dummy now.

At this rate, its definitely going to break.

Sigh, I guess I need to make a new one soon.

"... And that is all for today's lesson. Children, please go find someone and create a [Party] with them. The classes in the future needs to be done with groups, so now is a good chance to find a group for yourselves."

With Maany's lecture finished, the [Fighters] and [Mages] all started to cause a commotion.

Well, this has nothing to do with me.

I placed the straw mat that I just made to my side, and took another fistful of straws to start making another.

"Hey, we should make a [Party] too!" "Yeah, let's do that."

Oh, it seems even the [Commoners] are trying to group up now.

... The main benefit of being in a party is the shared experience. But doing manual labor such as farming yields very little EXP. There is honestly no point in sharing it.

So I just took my straws and left the church that was our Orphanage.

Wow, it's really cold. I took out my [Furry Wolf] clothing and put them on.

... Don't look at me like that, I really like the name.

"... Walson, Walson."

I took a glance at the [mini-map], and saw that there was only one person that was in the immediate vicinity.

"Hello Grace." I sneakily took out the sandwich of bread, eggs and spiced meat from my [Inventory].

"I tried making something new, and thought that you might want to be the first one to have a taste." Which is true. Despite me being the person who made this, I still haven't tried out the taste of the sandwich yet.

But it has a very wonderful smell, so I guess it should be delicious, right?

"... I really want to go to the secret base again." Grace took the sandwich with a pout.

Because she has to attend classes and lessons that teaches magic most of the time, she only has very small amount of opportunity to go out.

I snuck out with her to the secret base, two months ago. And she enjoyed her time there immensely.

"So, who are you going to group up with? You're really talented, I bet you can become famous in the future. There are a lot of people that will want to party with you."

Grace, who was already talented with magic, is making frightening amount of progress in her classes.

Maany, the busty nun, is a [Mage], and Father Marbon is can smacks enemies silly with staff imbued with holy power.

Grace is currently stronger than both of them combined when it comes to magical prowess.

I wonder what kind of [Mage] she will turn out to be in the future?

"... Grace wants to be in a party with Walson." She shyly curtsied in my direction.

{Grace has sent a request for a [Party].}

"Really? Are you fine with having a weak [Commoner] like me around?" I asked her.

I know that Grace really likes me as a friend, but I didn't expect this to happen at all.

She is a cute girl to boot.

... No no no, no naughty thoughts.

"... You are too modest." She said.

"Uhm, thanks for the compliment?"

I am actually LV25 right now. And aside from the nuns and Father Marbon, I have stats that is superior than anyone in the village.

Of course, since I regularly hunt in the mountains, I get a lot of EXP.

I can feel several heated glares on my back. The little sh*theads in our orphanage are probably jealous of me right now. Ohohohohoho.

"... Walson, don't make trouble." Grace smacked my cheeky grin off my face.

"Well, alright. Please take good care of me, Grace."

{Grace (LV10) has joined the party}

{With Three party members, you now gain 3% bonus EXP}.

#Uhm, Master? What?# Melon's voice drifted through the telepathic link.

Since the telepathic link is shared between everyone in the party, Grace heard her voice as well.

Grace scrunched up her face, into something that isn't quite a scowl for a normal person, but it is closest to what Grace can do.

... Right, Melon has only been with us for a month, so Grace who only snuck out two months ago wouldn't know about her.

It is also possible to get a 'feel' of how the party members are, whether if they are injured or distressed, etc. So it's really convenient.

So naturally, it is possible to know the name of all the party members.

"... Walson, is Melon a girl?"

"She recently moved into the secret base, I will introduce you to her later."

"... Walson, you flirt."

I was then chased out of the village by Grace, who was hitting me with her small staff non-stop.

"Wait, why the hell are you attacking me!?"


	13. Chapter 12: Grace in Wonderland

I am Grace.

I knew. I knew from the very beginning that I was different.

My hair has a very strange color, one that was described to be darker than black, yet shimmering.

I cannot safely approach water of any kind, if I touch water that has water elementals inside it, it will create a rotting wound.

And, I even have a curse...

Whenever I look at someone in the eye, I grow impossible angry and enraged, with the urge and desire to destroy anything that I looked directly into the eyes.

At least, I think that is a curse.

Because my cursed existence brought other people unhappiness, I was treated terribly.

Everyone called me bad names.

'Freak'.

'Monster.'

'Abomination'.

I did not like it. I did not like... myself, because I seem to embody those things that others dislike.

But thankfully, those are things of the past.

Currently, I like myself a lot.

Because Walson likes me just as I am.

Despite the fact that I am not good with communication, he always thought that it was "Grace's Style of talking."

He told me it was cute, but I didn't understand it, so I simply remembered that he said that.

I have the inborn talent to become a [Mage]. And according to Father Marbon, I will grow into a powerful and formidable one, someone that will be clearly remembered in history, in the future.

My... curse, for a lack of better word, impedes my connection with water. And as a result, I cannot control the water elementals in any shape or form without harming myself to perform any water spells.

On the other hand, all the other elements easily accepted me, and I can easily control all the others.

 _Fire_ , _Earth_ , _Wind_. As well as _Light and Dark_. Any spell that has nothing to do with water, I can easily learn and master.

I structuralize magic in my mind, and by communicating with the elementals through spell chants and words of power, perform the spells I know with nary an effort.

This process comes easily to me, but I heard not everyone can do that.

Maany, the teacher in our Orphanage, as well as Father Marbon, discourages my use of Dark spells.

But I demonstrated them to Walson.

Every once in a while, when I get some new ideas, I will show my magic to Walson. And every time, he gives me warm smiles and touches, or stroking my hair.

Although I am starting to grow taller than Walson... no, taller than the majority of the other children, I still like to keep my head low, just because it will make it easier for Walson to pat my head.

Walson told me that I was amazing, that I was great, and told me I that was f*cking awesome.

I don't really know what the last one meant, but I simply remember it.

I would probably become an [Elementalist], a kind of mage that have control over at least three elements. I have five out of six.

That's in the future... for me. But what is the future for Walson?

Unlike me, he is a [Commoner].

But he is always doing amazing things!

Walson makes me delicious food that cannot be found from anywhere or anyone except him. And deep down, I am certain that those kinds of food are things that not even the wealthiest of nobles could afford on a regular basis.

And then, Walson always shows me the things he creates, the things he made, and the things he crafted, whenever he has the chance to do so.

I saw that everything he did, from planting, to processing, to completion, was always done on his own.

It baffled me.

And then, I was invited into his secret base, and what I saw completely blew my mind.

Blocks that emit light, something that Walson called a [Redstone Lamp], saying that it was an alternative to candles, and saying how it is better to read books in the night with it because it is superior to the candle.

He didn't take those [Redstone Lamps] to the Orphanage though... He must have his reasons, I won't pry.

There is also a personal hot spring.

It is very difficult for me to clean myself, since I cannot touch water. It has to be boiled first, and I rarely ever take a bath in the rivers.

But Walson's hot spring by passed my curse since it was hot and devoid of water elementals.

Taking a dip inside it feels wonderful. I was extremely tempted to permanently move into the secret base simply because of that.

And Walson created other wondrous things. Every single one of them, from Walson's hands.

For some reason, Walson also has a very high LV.

Aside from Maany and Father Marbon, he has the highest LV in the entire village.

How in the world did he get to LV25? Did he train himself somehow?

Walson is nothing like a [Commoner], and in my eyes, he is someone that only exists in stories and fairy tales.

He once told me of a story about a girl who fell down a hole, and found a world full of wonders.

I feel that whenever I am with him, the world changes. It becomes so much more wonderful.

He is the same age as I am, yet I always catch glimpses of immense wisdom that exceeds anyone whenever I look into his eyes.

Sometimes, I want to call him brother.

Big brother.

I think he will become someone incredible in the future.

... Will I be able to stand by his side then?

"Grace, are you certain that you want to [Party] with Walson?" Maany asked me in a tone filled with concern.

"... Grace insists. Only Walson."


	14. Chapter 13: Secrets to Enchanting

I was honestly surprised that Grace decided to party up with me. The future lessons required children to be grouped up, and I never thought that she wanted me with her.

Since the next lesson was a practical one, involving exploration and slime extermination, I had to make some preparations.

From what I could gather, they are going to allow us to explore the flatter - and less dangerous - parts of the mountain.

Then, we need to bring back some [Slime Core] and [Slimeball] as proof that we did indeed exterminate them, and not just frolic in the mountains all day.

I have a large reserve for both items inside the secret base, so all I need is to present those, and I can hog all that time for my own activities.

It would also be nice to watch the reaction of those snotty brats when I present a humongous amount of items.

They are CHILDREN, and they are really weak. I have absolutely no idea how they can be this prideful about their so called 'strength'.

I have snuck out of bed in the darkness, and was in my secret base.

By the way, Melon was still training with the wooden dummy, it's been an hour since I've arrived and she's still at it.

Sheesh, she's staying up really late! Not like I can judge her though, since I am here... and awake...

I wanted to test something that I always wanted to try out before.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* the sound of Melon's swift fists impacting the dummy echoed through the cave.

It was quickly followed by the frantic *Click* and *Squeak* from the turning of the cogs and wheels inside the dummy.

It's just the usual sounds when Melon was training. I have mostly tuned most of them out when a loud *CRASH* resounded.

A big block of wood then flew directly into my face, impacting it painfully.

Splinters followed its wake, but thankfully none of them came anywhere close to harming me. Extracting splinters is always a nasty business.

Thus, the [Spinning Dummy] was destroyed. May it rest in peace... or piece/s.

Melon rushed towards me to help, and I had to divest some time into calming her down.

She then apologized profusely, but I simply waved them off.

I told her to go take a bath in the hot spring to calm down.

* * *

I took out the [Enchanting Table].

This is the one that I had inside my [Inventory] when playing Minecraft. It's purpose is to enchant items, granting them extra function depending on what enchantment was given.

It can be used on most equipment, it can grant Protection, Fire Protection, Blast Protection and Projectile Protection to name a few.

Or on weapons, to make it Sharp, or granting it Fire Aspect to ignite foes on fire.

Anyways, there are a lot of different effects both big and small that enchantment can grant and augment, I will just skip through it.

The [Enchanting Table] looks like a black obsidian table, with a leather book that emits a soft life levitating over it.

I stood in front of the table and took out an [Iron Sword] to commence my experiments.

Placing the [Iron Sword] cautiously over the table, I reached towards the leather book a bit nervously.

The moment my finger tips made contact with the book, the light immediately dimmed... no, wait! The light converged inside the book.

I opened the pages.

...

?

... Huh?

There are words written inside the book, and I can clearly feel the magic coming from it, but I simply cannot read them at all.

This also happened back in Minecraft. So I suppose this is normal.

The enchantments are always randomly chosen, and the words are nothing but cosmetics that are completely unrelated to enchanting.

It was best to just pick an option and pray it's the one you wanted.

How does it function though? How can I control it to start the process?

My fingers slid through the words written in the book, feeling the hum of magic beneath it.

... Wait, I CAN understand it. It's trying to tell me something.

{Cost: 32 Levels}, that's what I am feeling as I continued to caress the words in the book.

Within the world of Minecraft, it was essential to pay the price in experience points and levels for enchantments.

But the levels were frankly only an integrator that marked how much experience points you have, and have zero impact on the growth and stats.

In this world, experience points and levels are essential to one's individuality, essential to one's growth, and affects you through your whole life. I sincerely doubt that it will literally take away 32 levels. Not that I had that much.

I absentmindedly gave the mental command to {Select} it. In theory, If I couldn't match the 'price', then the golden letters would be unavailable for me to select.

But it was available, so that means it's not really the levels that the book will be taking.

I wonder what it will take from me?

" □■▲, △● , ▣ⓞ. ◥-◥-►!" I exclaimed without even knowing what the words are.

Then I watched as the glowing letters I selected flew out from the book, glowing golden and swirling around me.

I immediately felt dizzy and light headed. This sensation... like something was sucked out of me.

Wait, my mana? I lost a big chunk of my mana, the big loss of it caused my discomfort.

I crumpled and fell on my ass from the dizziness while the golden letters suddenly stopped swirling, freezing in the air momentarily, and shooting towards the sword on the table as if they were birds of prey, swooping down for a kill.

Light shined from the sword, but it soon faded away to show it's coated in a purplish gleam that covered the whole sword.

It seems like this was a success!

"What in the name of the goddess are you doing now, Master?" Melon walked out from the bathroom.

She has been watching me for about three minutes, I let her think that I didn't notice her; hah.

"Oh nothing, just an experiment." I placed the enchanted [Iron Sword] into my [Inventory].

[Iron Sword_Enchantment: Sharpness(II), Knock-back(I)]

Oooh. Sharpness to increase damage, and knock back as well? Interesting.

I felt myself out to make certain how much mana it took from me.

[MP 301/621]

Hmm, approximately half of my mana is missing. So the price for enchanting would be my mana now?

I calculated it through my head again, and came to the realization that it took away exactly 320 mana. Wasn't the cost supposed to be 32 levels? Does this mean one level in Minecraft equals 10 mana in here?

Which means as long as I take enough rest and allow my mana to regenerate, I can enchant anything I want as many times as I wish.

... I am going to abuse this to the nether, then back again.

I am just a lowly [Commoner] who has zero spells in their arsenal!

Normally, I'm never going to even be using mana! I got enough mana to spare.

"Melon, I'm leaving now." I stood up from the ground.

"Hn? You're leaving? It's really late! It might be dangerous."

"Yeah, I have to get up early to tend the farm."

Speaking of farming... I have ran out of [Bone Meal].

I will have to somehow find more monsters to pilfer their bones for it, preferably, Undead Skeletons.

Troublesome.

"Looks like I'm running low on other things too... I'll need more monster loots/drops later..."

"Alright, I will watch out for mobs Master." Melon gave me an affirmative nod.

"Oh, by the way." I took out two new spinning dummies from my [Inventory].

"I'm so sorry!" Melon quickly duck her head in shame, focusing her eyes on the ground.

It's not like she did anything special, but damn, she broke the dummies through brute strength alone. That's insane.

"I can quickly make more of them, so don't worry." A true statement. The reason it took much longer to make in the first time was because I diverted most of my effort and attention to the designs.

Now that I have already done it once, it's much easier to make more.

Thanks to the [Crafting Table], it will take probably less than a minute to get the dummy. It's the cogs and other small parts that give me trouble and eat up the time.

But even then, it's still relatively quick to make.

I already anticipated the destruction of the dummy, so I already made them a few days ago.

"I will be off then. Sweet dreams." With that said, I quickly made my way back to the Orphanage with the night breeze running through my hair.


	15. Chapter 14: Field Trip Day

Today was the day that the children were going to explore the mountains.

Funny, this reminded me of the field trips I had back when I was a kid on Earth.

Oh wait, I'm a kid NOW... Never mind.

The young [Fighters] and [Mages] gathered around the clearing, listening to Maany and Father Marbon's last-minute lecture.

Apparently Father Marbon did a 'live-demonstration' of slime extermination, killing it while all of the kids were watching.

RIP Slime.

"Our objective for today is to explore the flatter parts of the mountains and scour for any low-level monsters for you to kill. Please bring back any [Slime Cores] and [Slimeballs] you acquire as proof of completing this exercise." Father Marbon said.

As I said, the trip was all about killing slimes.

Speaking of which, there is a LV34 slime inside the deeper parts of the mountains. It's really big, and even Arkon the gigantic phantasmal wolf doesn't like to mess around with the slime.

Despite the fact that it's level was higher than Arkon's, the phantasmal wolf has far more superior stats. Comparing the levels is not really a good comparison of strength.

Personally I think the slime would lose to Arkon since he is much stronger in terms of stats.

I have observed the big slime for a while, and came to the conclusion that it does not like to actively hunt other creatures. It prefers to simply devour rocks and trees, and occasionally perform some water magic, but that's about it.

One could almost say that the big slime was peaceful, except it's clearly stronger than the majority of the monster population in the mountain.

Even though fire is weak to water, pitting the slime and the phantasmal wolf against each other would still be rather silly.

Wolves always hunt with purpose, such as hunting for food, or eliminating threats to their territories. But nothing will be accomplished by hunting a slime. So Arkon leaves it alone since it serves no purpose to fight it.

"... There has also been sightings about magical beasts wandering in the area, aggressive wolves in particular. Please proceed with caution, and it will be a test of your teamwork if you ever meet them." Father Marbon continued.

Ah, seems like they are talking about the lone wolves or the wanderers of the pack.

Arkon has his underlings tightly under his control, and they rarely ever wander out of the deeper parts of the mountains.

So this leaves two possibilities: either they are the elderly who wanted to 'die in peace' after no longer being able to contribute to the pack, or they are the rash and hot blooded youth that went exploring on their own.

"... Walson, not nervous?" Grace sat right next to me on the grass, sounding slightly anxious.

"You know I've been inside the deeper parts of the mountains, I spend a lot of time there as well. This is nothing really." I responded.

Plus I have my trusty [Mini-map]. I will be informed in advanced, be it weaklings or strong threats.

Though... I suppose only Arkon and the big slime would count as threats. In this region at least.

I stealthily snaked my hands and squeezed Grace's hand, trying to comfort and reassure her.

Ah, the soft and delicate texture of her small hands!

"... Walson, meanie." Grace blushed cutely, but didn't retract her hands or show any signs of rejection from my action.

Aaaahhh, Cute! Moe! Loli! (Although she is technically taller than me)

"... And that will be all. One last thing before we all let you run loose!" Father Marbon gave a look towards Maany.

Maany took up the cue and stepped forward.

"Everyone please gather up here and take an [Alarm Crystal] before you go. If you ever find yourself in danger, pour mana into it to activate it just like we mentioned in our previous lessons. Has anyone forgotten how to use them?" The children started to crowd around her.

Just as Grace and I were going towards her, Mitty passed us by.

Mitty is older than us by three years, which puts him at thirteen years old right now. He was already bratty back then, and his brattiness is even more pronounced as he aged.

He also became one of Grace's not-so-secret admirers. He's been looking for trouble a lot more often now.

... But he is only LV7. He uses impractically long spell chants, and has absolutely zero combat experience.

I can wipe the floor with him.

"No matter what you did, to force Grace to do as you say, I will save her someday." He said to us, then proceeded towards Maany to take an [Alarm Crystal].

... I have the strong urge to kick his ass right now.

You know **YOU** were the one that bullied Grace years before, right!? What do you think you're doing, trying to act like a nice guy when you really aren't!?

And what is with that nonsensical declaration? Did he read that off of some theater script? What a drama queen!

I really ought to sneakily punish you somehow... No wait, I shouldn't bother wasting my time on him.

There are lots of things I want to do today, we're heading towards the secret base after everything is done.

#Melon, is everything ready?# I activated the telepathic link.

#Yes Master. Everything is waiting ready for you.#

#... You get to live in secret base. Jealous...# Grace said through the telepathic link.

Oh right, I am going to introduce them to each other today. Hopefully no fights will occur between them.


	16. Chapter 15: A Nun's Prayer

**Been busy. Here is the chapter.**

 **HoGa contacted an artist, and now we have a new cover image!**

* * *

I am Maany Corhel Matt.

I am a human, and I am currently thirty five years old.

My current occupation is a Nun. I work in the village of Sadin, and I live with my mother Maressa, and assist Father Marbon in his duties to the church and orphanage. I have served for fifteen years.

My talents lie in the direction of a _[Mage]_ , a _[Cleric]_ to be specific. I can use magic that is aligned to healing, or to element of light. I of course studied other magics, but those two are my specialties.

Despite being a nun of the religion of Vantinom, I do not view demi-humans with disdain like the western branches.

I serve a branch that is much more open minded about the world, the Vantinom-Grella branch.

The Grella branch was created four centuries ago by an Elven priest of the same name. He saw the darkness and corruption within the higher echelons of our religion, believing themselves to be superior to all other beings. Grella created a new branch, attempting to counter it.

The main branch treats all non-human and non-elven species as demons, therefore marking everyone else as worthless things they need to destroy.

But the only species that are truly demonic, are the devils and succubi/incubbi, who can trace their ancestry to hell.

The demi-humans really aren't as horrible as the main branch portray them to be. They just live differently, with their own traditions and values.

As long as they commit no crime, they should not be punished for being different.

We also worship the goddess, Vantinom, in our branch, exactly like the main branch. But we welcome the other species with open arms as long as they convert into our faith.

The Grella branch are more active in the southern part of the land. It's incidentally where more demons live.

"There really are only two types of people in this world. The type that commit crime, and the type that don't." Those are the words spoken by Grella.

We do not oppress the other species of the world, unlike the main branch who actively try to exterminate them with extreme prejudice.

But... Grella also lacks the popularity of the main branch. We hold less power and sway than they do, and as a result, our branches are mostly placed into churches in poor or far-away regions. However, we are resilient enough to not be eradicated by the main branch.

Oh, I have started rambling again... right, the orphanage.

Our orphanage functions as a small society that can function independently, with certain amount of self-sufficiency. The [Fighter] and [Mage] children will be provided by the [Commoners], their [Fighter] and [Mage] talents will be cultivated, while the [Commoners] work to provide the orphanage.

Initially, I thought this was a good plan where everyone will be assigned duties, and everything will be fine as long as everyone does completes their duty. The reason I thought so was because, ideally, 90% of the children would be [Commoners] while the 10% are [Fighters] and [Mages].

But recently, this generation in particular, the number of [Fighters] and [Mages] have risen. As a result, the [Commoners] are faced with the problem where they need to provide for more, but lack the numbers to do so.

And the [Fighters] and [Mages] have grown arrogant, basking in their fake superiority. This caused many headaches for my mother, Father Marbon, and myself. We have no idea how we can change their attitude.

This really isn't something that can be changed instantly. As there are cancer and tumors that are hard to remove in normal society, the same can be said to our orphanage.

We have to remove the root of the problem before anything major happens, but how?

... Let's talk about the more notable children in the orphanage.

There is Agrell, an outstanding [Fighter] among the children. He is fourteen.

Agrell was born with immense strength, and Father Marbon has complimented his decent talent in sword-play. He might become a _[Swordsman]_ in the future.

He has a strong sense of justice, but he is dimwitted, extremely gullible. He will be leaving the orphanage when he reaches fifteen, and I truly worry for him.

For the [Mages], there is Mitty who is also noteworthy.

He is thirteen, and already in a [Party] with Agrell. They should become good partners in the future.

He has decent talent in magic, but has a temper, and is mean to the other children.

Oh, and there is also another noteworthy child. It's a girl.

She is really special, and not exactly in the normal way.

Her name is Grace, and she seems to have been cursed.

Ten years ago, she was placed on our doorsteps in a stormy night. When we looked at her, there was the visage of a dark, slender, monstrous being. We have never seen or heard anything like it, it startled all three of us.

After using the [Stone Tablet of Identification], we confirmed that she wasn't human.

Endermen.

"What is an Enderman?" We wondered. Father Marbon used some cloaking magic to hide that information, and to make it so that every time she was identified with the stone tablet, it will show that she is human.

She is extremely brilliant and talented when it comes to magic. She has very strong control over the elements, except for water. She learned how to use Dark element spells all on her own. One could almost call her a genius.

In the past, whenever someone looked at her in the eyes, she will go into a rampage. She will destroy almost anything that is nearby, and doesn't listen to any of our commands. This lasts about three minutes as long as no body looked her in the eyes again.

... Then, Walson came with a pair of glasses. No body knew how he got them, but just that it worked.

Walson is a [Commoner], and Maressa, my mother, deemed him to be extremely bad. Saying that he likes to cause trouble, and she often sends him into the Naughty room.

But personally, I think Walson is doing the right thing.

Grace was often bullied, and it was Walson it drove them away most of the time.

We adults often tell the children stories about legends, heroes, and adventures. Walson took those words, and became a hero in the eyes of Grace through his actions.

He must be feeling cheated every time he is sent to the Naughty room. How sad.

I cannot override my mother's authority, and therefore I cannot stop her from sending him to the naughty room, nor can I get him out of it. But I always knock on the window and ask him if he wants food or not.

He has never answered to my inquiry though. "Is he angry at us adults?" I thought at first.

But it seems like I was too close minded.

Walson continues to smile, sometimes unrepentantly.

Please keep smiling Walson. Don't let our injustice taint your smile.

Unlike most children, he does not like to be affectionate with me. He also doesn't seek affection from Father Marbon or my mother. How strange.

He smiles more often than the other children, making the other children seem very grim and weary.

Sometimes, the orphanage receives children who's parents had no space to house them. Meaning that there are children who live in the orphanage but still have a family.

Sometimes the parents will come and visit, and then the children who are truly parentless will often cry.

But I have never seen Walson cry.

I occasionally tried to get closer to Walson. I was curious, and wanted to know what he is doing. But I never could catch him.

I asked the other children, and they said that Walson always disappears for a very long time.

He is a [Commoner], and therefore is supposed to work in the farm. So at first I thought he was shirking his duty to go and play.

But when I went on a patrol, I was surprised to see that he has the most organized farm out of everyone. It was evenly squared and spread.

When I look at his eyes, I could sometimes see wisdom and age that does not belong in the eyes of a child.

He is ten years old, and one hundred and fifty centimeters tall (4'11") yet he seems very reliable.

Whenever Grace is not studying, she always spends her time with Walson.

I am worried.

He seems too mature...


	17. Chapter 16: Preparation for Engagement

**Sorry this took so long. My motivational deficiency disorder kicked me in the ass real hard.**

 **I am NOT kidding when I say my mental health isn't stellar.**

 **HoGa managed to motivate me enough though. So, Praise HoGa!**

* * *

Father Marbon has selected an area that regularly spawns slimes.

The area in question, a small part in the woods, is not as small as one would imagine.

If it truly were small, then all the children would be fighting over the slimes, instead fighting against them.

We were also told not to venture too far away... not like I care!

The moment I made sure no one was looking, I stepped into the woods, scooped Grace up, and dashed towards the secret base.

It will take some time since we are taking the long route, but as someone who's level is 25, it's a piece of cake.

With a blushing Grace the Loli in my arms (Okay fine, she's still technically taller than me), I found myself enjoying the journey.

We swiftly arrived at the secret base, and I immediately began to work by assembling the components for my new contraption.

"Master, I've brought the things you've asked me to bring. But what are you using them for?"

"...Incomprehensible." Grace was munching on a sandwich I made.

The moment we stepped into the secret base, Grace sent Melon quite a few looks filled with aggression.

What surprised me the most however, was the way Melon responded to that animosity.

Firstly she politely introduced herself to Grace, swiftly brought out our white bread and spiced meat, accompanied with a jug of juice. Melon treated her like a guest of honor all the while.

After that, she started to shower Grace with various compliments regarding myself. Regaling her about 'how much of a great person Walson is', or 'Walson is kind beyond measure'. She also talked about how often she has heard me talk about Grace, and the fact that she already knows quite a few things about Grace through my words.

I... felt very self-conscious while that was going on, especially when Grace started to nod in agreement whenever Melon started to compliment me.

#You're doing a great job# I told Melon through the telepathic link.

#Being aware of the master's needs is the duty of a slave.# She replied blasély.

I bet she would have been an excellent and capable servant if she were to work in a noble's household. Probably even be the chief-maid.

... Let's not go down the "Capable Maid" route yet. It's different kinds of capable after all.

"Alright, its finished! The [Dispenser] is done." I stood up from where I sat.

Ding-Ring~

A [Dispenser] is a redstone mechanism from Minecraft. Made by combining redstone, cobblestone, and one bow, it can be used to shoot or eject things that are placed within it. If you want to shoot something upwards, make the dispenser face upwards. It just needs a power source now.

I also took some iron and crafted a minecart, then I joined two minecarts together to expand it. This isn't something that can be normally done in Minecraft, but since I am currently living a real life, and real life physics still apply, its possible for me to do that now.

I will reveal what I am using these stuff for, later.

"Now then, time for your equipment." I took more materials from the pile that Melon has organized for me.

Iron, lots of Iron.

Though technically, its steel now.

Firstly, I refined two iron ingots and got a refined iron out of it. (Not something that usually happens in Minecraft either.) Aside from the darker color, I came to the conclusion that it is much more durable and much harder to penetrate after some testing. But its ductility and malleability was too high, it could stretch and spread into bizarre shapes that were not friendly to the human body.

So I added coal into it, and I got steel!

I did not remove any impurities, so it looks particularly dirty and... impure. Not like I knew how to remove the impurities. In my opinion, its like throwing black sesame seeds into a bottle of milk.

I don't think actual steel production would have been as easy as I have demonstrated, so I decided to call it black iron instead, in case if things ever got really technical.

I placed the [Black Iron] on the [Crafting Table] and applied the Minecraft formula used to create armor. Enough armor for two people, both of which I intend to give to the girls. I am already wearing the prototype so I didn't need to make another set for myself.

Melon would be fine wearing a full set, but Grace probably can't handle the weight. Therefore, Melon's set is made to protect her body entirely, while Grace's only protects vital body parts.

In my own opinion, I believe that all mages need to retain their mobility. Meaning that I intend to push Melon into the role of a tank this time.

I distributed some supplies, ten bottles of [Marbor Potions of Healing], and another ten bottles of [Milk] for each person inside waist bags.

With two very confused girls following behind me, I made my way out of the secret base.

Looking closely at my [Minimap], I took care to avoid monsters, and ended up before the entrance of a cave.

This is a cave inside a big hill, and its not the only cave since the hill is really huge. The came upon some trouble the last time I was here, but thankfully I got what I was looking for.

In order to preserve the natural order, I only hit this sort of place once in a year. Monster ecosystem is something even more delicate than normal ecosystems. I will clear out this one, then leave it alone for a year.

"Mm? Master, are you sure...?" I believe Melon frowned. She must has taken note of the sweet scent coming from inside the cave... or she heard the noises coming from the cave.

"...?" Grace shot Melon a look filled with confusion.

Melon's senses, her smelling and hearing in particular, are really sharp in comparison to Grace's.

"That's right! Which is why I got both of you equipment that is resistant to penetrating damage. But we aren't going to charge right in, we must take safety measures first."

I took out bunch of firewood from my [Inventory], and carefully positioned them a few steps into the cave.

"Grace, can we get some fire please?"

"... Sure." With a wave, a small fireball flew towards the firewood.

After making sure that it was burning, I started to take earth and soil out of my [Inventory], quickly sealing the cave entrance with them.

By the way, spell chants are mandatory for all spells. So despite the fact that Grace used magic without one, she merely made it so that it was very quick and unnoticeable to the point where one would mistake her being able to do that.

Now, we wait.

* * *

The three of us started to search for slimes to kill. It was laughably easy to find them with my [Minimap], and easier still to eliminate them. We used this chance to work out some basic team work and coordination.

... Uhm, has Melon been deeply influenced by the wooden dummy, or is it just me?

I say this because she uses her arms and legs to attack.

Not that I am saying she is doing poorly without any weapons, but slimes instantly die from one hit from her punches or kicks.

Slimes have resistance to physical attacks, y'know? Especially blunt force trauma... but then again, if she could demolish my wooden dummies so quickly, it wouldn't really matter.

Speaking of wooden dummies, the one she's using this week looks like its almost falling apart now. What is she doing to that poor dummy?

Even though she is doing great without any weapons, I still think it's too risky to go without one, so I shoved an enchanted Iron sword into her hands.

[Iron Sword_Enchantment: Bane of Arthropods (II)], this particular sword was the second blade I enchanted. It is only effective when used against arthropods, so I still prefer the sharpness enchantment when it comes to general coverage. I have already came up with a way to improve on enchanting, so I might fix this sword later.

But this sword will be useful for our operation this time, so I gave it to Melon.

"M-Master? This is..."

"... Mm... Weapon, gifted by Walson." Grace had a slightly envious expression on her face.

"Huh? No no, this isn't a gift." Melon's eager face instantly fell. So I swiftly added: "It's a prototype, a mock, used for testing purposes. I am going to make another weapon specifically designed for you in the future."

Melon gave me a happy smile after hearing that.

"Then I will hold onto this for you."

"... Specifically designed..." Despite having a blank expression, it is very easy to see that Grace is feeling crestfallen.

"Grace, I won't promise to make you a staff, since I have no idea how, but I promise to try." I really didn't want to make her sad, and I did want to try make a staff.

"... Walson, Great." She seems much more happy now, seems like I have successfully cheered her up.

I just hope her expectations aren't too high... Wasn't there a book on staffs and magical conduits back in the Orphanage...?

{Party has gained 170 EXP}

{Party has gained 163 EXP}

{Level Up! Melon is now LV7.}

{Party has gained 178 EXP}

{Party has gained 181 EXP}

{Party has gained 70 EXP}

{Party has gained 69 EXP}

{Party has gained 80 EXP}

{Level Up! Melon is now LV8}

{Level Up! Grace is now LV11}

At this moment, a flood of messages appeared.

Oh my, I thought my plan would only weaken, not kill. But this is still good news.

I suppose the ones that had less EXP were the younger ones...?

"Huh? Uh?" Melon was startled. "I leveled up, and there's a new skill! All thanks to Master."

"... I also have a new skill." Grace said.

Aaaaaah. I am so jealous! You can gain skills as you level up, but I didn't get any no matter how many levels I gain. I also wouldn't be getting any in the future.

"... This is... Hm?" Grace mumbled, and then a spray of flower petals came out of nowhere.

Grace who was originally on my side, disappeared and instantly appeared on my other side.

Oh right! I almost forgot Grace was an [Enderman]! So the teleportation skill was supposed to be unlocked through leveling up? Huh, how strange.

[Endermen] back in Minecraft could teleport freely. I was wondering why she never did anything like that, but turns out it was because she lacked the levels for it.

"...W-Walson... I..." She then teleported back again.

Melon had her jaws on the ground.

In this world, magical metastasis - as in, using magic to change one's position - is not something that is used lightly. It is usually large scaled, with high MP cost, and cannot be used repeatedly.

But it looks like Grace did not have to worry about any of those issues.

Thinking about it, I thought it made sense. After all, [Endermen] are infamous for their ability to teleport repeatedly.

Grace looks like she is panicking.

... I guess it's because she isn't used to it. Possibly because she has no idea how to control this new ability, this is slightly worrisome.

So, I tried to teach Grace how to control her teleportation by using my knowledge about Minecraft. After an hour, she seems to have gotten the hang of it, and is not teleporting freely.

A very convenient ability if I were to say so.

Melon gained skills that would physically reinforce her, and even learned the passive skill {Martial Arts} which gives her a boost in attack and speed.

Seems like what you learn is related to the things you train.

During the impromptu lesson time, we still got numerous messages and pings regarding exp gains.

"Alright, I think the wood should have finished burning by now..." I caught the attention of the two girls that were testing out their new skills.

There are probably a dozen that are still alive, but they should be weakened.

"Let's go! Its honey time."

We then made our way to the cave which was the residence of [Gigantic Wasps].


	18. Chapter 17: Wasp Nest

I proceeded to unseal the cave entrance, revealing several pieces of charcoal on the ground. I pocketed them, with the intention of reusing them in the future.

Waste not, want not. I could still use these to make torches.

Then I asked Grace to use wind magic to conjure a small tornado at the mouth of the cave that would last for five minutes.

As for why... the reason is simple.

Just now, I was smoking the wasps to incapacitate them, as well as creating carbon monoxide by burning wood into charcoal.

Since the cave was sealed shut, the carbon monoxide was circulating inside the cave. I don't need to explain what carbon monoxide poisoning is, do I?

Therefore, to ensure that we don't die inside the cave due to carbon monoxide, I had Grace refresh the air through the tornado.

And then we entered the cave.

The cave is somewhat narrow, it is wide enough to have four people walk side by side. But there are only three of us, so it was no problem.

As we walked inside the cave, the smell of burnt wood permeated the entire place.

And then we encountered a [Creeper].

[Creeper_LV11_HP:10/20_Status:Weak_Title:None]

What? Why!? Isn't this a [Wasp Nest]?

No wait, monsters are said to be created through a mutation due to high concentration of mana. Maybe their habits have been mutated as well?

Creepers in particular love to spawn in dark places, and surprise you by blasting you to bits. But why didn't the wasps kill them?

Hmm... I remember reading in a monsterology book that said wasps are territorial, but not unforgiving. As long as other creatures do not get in their way, they can coexist.

Does this mean that [Creepers] act as some sort of guards for the wasps in exchange for shelter?

Anyway, if you don't already know, here are some information about [Creepers].

They originated from Minecraft, their habits... uhm, I don't really think it should be called habits... more like, [Creepers] exist solely for the purpose of sneakily exploding behind your back.

SSSsss... BOOOOOOM.

A self exploding monster. A suicide bomber.

Their appearance will remind you of a walking "Armstrong Cannon" ** _{1}_** , they do not make any sound when moving, so they can easily get behind your back.

Originally in Minecraft, they were always green. But in this world, they seem to have evolved and adapted. They come in all kinds of colors now.

Gray to hide better inside caves, and green inside forests or bushes.

Despite having developed heightened camouflage, they still can't escape the detection of my [Mini-map].

But seriously though... Their existence does not benefit anyone. First, they kill themselves, so they do not do anything that benefit themselves. Secondly, keeping them around doesn't yield any benefits. Then, they kill others through explosions, so that's not a benefit either.

Since we're here, I started to teach Melon and Grace on how to fight [Creepers].

As long as you are not taken by surprise, it is just a matter of keeping your distance. But things become very dangerous when the [Creepers] come in groups of two or more.

Fighting them in close range is straight forward. Hit them once, then quickly retreat out of the range of explosion. Then the [Creepers] will slowly approach you, and you just rinse and repeat until they die.

Not really known as smart monsters.

If you happen to have ranged weaponry, fighting them is even easier. Just keep attacking it from afar till they die.

When [Creepers] die, they drop gunpowder. One could make TNT with those, and I often slay creepers to create TNT for my convenience.

We continued deeper into the cave, and it slowly became evident that the creeper was just one of the few survivors after my smoking strategy.

There were some dead bodies on the ground.

And since the bodies are... well, 'dead'. They do not count as living things, thus I promptly threw them into my [Inventory].

I looked at my [Mini-map] and slowly lead the way deeper into the cave, where more survivors were.

We happened upon one of the main resident of the cave.

[Giant Wasp_LV24_HP:2/98_Status:Coma, Weak_Title:None]

It's lying on the ground, and it's not moving. They are about 1.5 metres long, and look like giant hornets.

The size is very intimidating. Anyone would be scared the first time laying their eyes on them.

Surrounding it were corpses of its brethren.

"It's still alive. Anyone want to take first blood of the day?"

Melon and Grace were staring, but soon responded. They shared a look with each other, and then Melon gave a 'you go on' sort of gesture, and Grace stepped forward with her staff raised.

"Oh hang on, don't use fire. That would make gathering materials harder." I reminded her.

Grace took a moment to think, then raised her staff again.

"●● -─ Shadow Arrow." Must have been a spell that she isn't familiar with, since it took a second of incantation.

A dark shadow soared through the air and penetrated the wasp's head.

WOW! That was so cool!

Dark elemental spells!

{Party gained 183EXP}

{Level Up! Melon is now LV9}

{Level Up! Grace is now LV12}

Oh, they leveled up again.

I kept vigil with my [Mini-map], leading us further into the nest. We happened upon another survivor.

Melon didn't spare much fanfare, and killed it by simply stomping the head.

We then repeatedly eliminated the other survivors we saw...

... *Sigh*, this is almost getting boring.

But there was still more work to be done.

I noticed that something shown on the [Mini-map] was moving, and it was quickly moving towards us.

The loud buzzing of wings reached us first.

[Giant Wasp_LV28_HP:61/123_Status: Weak, Enraged_Title: None]

"If things get too noisy, start using telepathy. Prepare for Combat!" I shouted.

The brown insectoid monster swiftly approached us... *boom*

*splat*

{Party gained 178EXP}

Aaaaaaand there was Melon, standing at the front of the formation, with one hand holding a sword, the other disappearing inside the head of the enemy.

It sank into the head completely, cutting right to the chase and ending its life.

"Please don't get close to Master."

"Woah, what a headshot." I exclaimed. Her killing intent was leaking all over.

But I have to say, is that sword in your left hand meant to be a decoration?

"...Oooh... she was too fast, damn it." Grace mumbled.

Hang on a moment, these two are clearly treating this as some sort of game!

I was taking all of this seriously! Like, real combat!

There was more buzzing up ahead, but it was soon silenced by a 'whish'.

{Party gained 173EXP}

"...Razor Wind." That was Grace's voice.

Damn! I didn't even see a target, and you just killed it instantly before I even detected it!?

You know, I really pity these wasps. The girls are showing no mercy whatsoever.

... Oh, whatever. Let's just speed up the pace.

According to the [Mini-map], the bottom of the cave is much more spacious. The closer we got to the bottom, the more wasps started to attack us.

But they were all viciously killed.

The two girls by my side seem to be really getting into it. They continue to one-shot the incoming enemies.

Seriously though, I think they are doing very well because they are quite strong. I sincerely doubt any of the children in the Orphanage could imitate their actions right now.

By the way, sometimes the enemies still don't die in one hit, but still die right after.

At one instance, Grace's aim was off and cuts the wings off instead of the head. As the wasp crashed into the ground, it slid towards Melon, and she slugged it in the head.

R.I.P Giant Wasp.

Seeing as how things are right now, I think we probably won't be needing the [Minecarts].

Let's just sweep through this place and kill all the wasps.

"Alright, you two are doing great! But we have to be careful, we are getting closer to the Queen."

I confirmed the location of the Queen with my [Mini-map], and walked through the quickly expanding cave.

What entered our field of vision was a very big area that was probably almost the same size as a football court, with the ceiling higher than 20 meters.

There is a very unnatural looking lump on the top, signifying the location of the nest.

With no more giant wasps, there is only the Queen who is inside the nest, glaring at us with baleful eyes.

... She seems to be quite angry.

[Giant Wasp Queen_LV30_HP:256/524_Status: Enraged_Title: None]

I took out the wall of stone that I assembled in advance.

As for why I took it out? The Queen was already coming towards us!

The two at my side sprang forth without any commands.

"... Razor Wind!" The air was condensed into a blade, and slashed.

The Queen dodged the attack by accelerating unnaturally.

... But quickly fell to the ground from a second Razor Wind. It slashed through the wings.

Holy crap this thing is huge! It's the same size as a truck!

"... Razor Wind, Razor Wind, Razor Wind!" Wait, what is she doing with those spells...

Her casting speed is really insane! The interval was around one second per cast.

Grace is going to be terrifying when she grows up.

But... the wind blades did nothing but leave gouges and slash marks on the Queen.

What a durable exoskeleton! These wind blades were able to cleanly cut the other wasps in half.

*GIAAAAA* The Queen let out a harsh screech, and dashed towards us.

But before she could reach Grace, she was pushed aside by something else.

Melon was the one who tackled the Queen, and after recovering from the tackle, started to wail on the Queen with her right fist.

The punch managed to open up a hole that leaked green fluid, and then the Queen swung it's poisonous sting towards Melon.

Oh no, she's gonna get hit at this rate!

But at that moment, I saw Grace teleport right to her side, grabbed Melon, and vanish in a flourish of petals.

They fell in a heap right next to my side, petals aflutter.

Woooow, what team work!

Despite the fact that they landed gracelessly, keep in mind that Grace only had this skill to practice for about an hour. Being able to get such a good result is really astounding.

Although we have healing items at the ready in case Melon was injured, we bore witness to a very great feat of magic.

"...Melon, you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Thank you, Grace."

"When did you two get so cooperative..."

"... Melon knows how amazing Walson is. Therefore, a companion."

Wait, what the heck?

* * *

The girls stood up and faced the angry Wasp Queen.

Ah, that stinger is really dangerous. I really think I should do something about it.

With that said, I took out my custom made [Bow].

By the way, in Minecraft, we get this crosshair thing. And whenever I try to shoot with this bow, I get a green dot that tells me where I am shooting. It's almost like it's laser aimed.

"Grace, please distract it for me. I don't want it to dodge with that weird acceleration thing."

"●● -─ Shadow Arrow! Shadow Arrow! Shadow Arrow!" Wait! You didn't need to rapid fire!

The Queen managed to dodge the first, but was immediately injured by the other shots.

I tied a string made from spider silk on the arrow, and shot it at the vulnerable soft under belly of the Queen.

I had no trouble hitting my mark when it was shown to me in green!

Pulling the string, I quickly sprinted in a circle in my usual speed when I run through the mountains.

By the time the string was getting short, the Queen was lying on the ground, squirming, bound and tied.

"Melon!"

"Here!"

Then Melon cuts off the head with the [Bane of Arthropods] enchanted word, ending the battle.

{Party gained 7583EXP}

{Level Up! Walson is now LV26}

{Level Up! Grace is now LV16}

{Level Up! Melon is now LV14}

Wooaaah, that's a lot of EXP! Our levels rose very quickly.

Speaking of... Melon really should have used the sword in the first place, to end up using her fist is just...

Anyway, the fight felt alright. We all came out unharmed, and showed good coordination.

Lastly, I used the dispenser to shoot a TNT. The TNT was slathered in slime fluid, and managed to stick on the wasp nest that was the target.

The nest exploded.

I was waiting right under it with a gigantic urn as honey started to flow.

Ah~ Sweet Honey. It's been while since I've eaten any.

* * *

{1}: A reference to "Gintama". Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon. Basically, HoGa wants to say that Creepers are designed to look like dildos.


	19. Chapter 18: Count the Spoils

It will take two more hours for the sky to grow dark, which is when I will need to return to the other children.

... Oh, since we are on the subject of time, I wanted to mention that this world calculates time differently. Half an hour is one 'time unit', which can be recorded with a special magic.

Imagine how ticks work inside Minecraft and are differentiated from real life time, except this time it's half an hour being counted as a tick.

The name of the time unit isn't actually tick though.

I still have my [Mini-map] which has the 24-hour time function built into it, which is how I can get a grasp of the time so quickly.

Back on **Earth** , it's usually sundown around six. But in this world it's seven. Not really a big deal, since all one needs to do is grow used to it. I personally think it's similar to "having more daylight in summer and less in winter" king of situation.

Anyway! Before we head back to the Orphanage, I wanted to take both Grace and Melon back to the secret base first.

We ended up killing a total of 35 wasps.

Aside from the obvious honey, there were also quite a lot of reusable stuff we could salvage, such as the twenty-seven bee stingers plus one gigantic queen stinger.

Additionally, there's also sixty insect wing membrane, four of them being from the gigantic queen.

I should find some time to study these materials. Their quality shouldn't be anything to scoff at since they came from advanced monsters.

Melon managed to learn a skill called [Physical Reinforcement] in this venture.

Technically it's a magic spell that is not labelled under any element. More on the elemental topic later though.

As long as this skill is active, it will continuously drain and consume mana.

Since the skill is only LV1 - she did only learn it today after all - the boost is very meager.

... But after coming to the base, and asking her to practice on the wooden dummies while activating [Physical Reinforcement] left me quite speechless. It took only a few hits before the wooden dummy laid in pieces.

Maaaaybe it was because the durability has already been worn down, but seriously, this dummy is practically new! It's only been on duty for a whole week!

But after using the [Stone Tablet of Appraisal], something was clarified to me.

Melon's attack stats are abnormally high, somewhere around the double of mine.

... And she is 12 levels below me!?

Is this the difference between a [Fighter] and a [Villager]? Aaaah, feels bad man!

... So it was with a heavy heart that I eliminated the doubts I had before.

"Melon, this is a new dummy. Or rather, it's an [Iron Dummy]?" I set the new "Iron" dummy on the ground.

In terms of structure and function, it is the mirror of the wooden dummy. Except it is made out of my "Black Iron".

"Master... you really didn't need to do this for me..."

"But I did. Therefore, in order for my efforts to not be in vain, do your best and hit this as hard as you can, OK?" Maybe I could write a training journal, recording how many dummies Melon destroy in the future, and using that as a unit to measure one's progress. Ha!

Ha... Ha...

Currently three dummies have died. How many more will she slaughter...? Just kidding.

* * *

(Years later when I look back and thought about this, I cringed at how I made a "flag" here.)

* * *

And so, with the objective of training her MP capacity and increasing skill level in mind, I had Melon practice with the dummies with [Physical Reinforcement] constantly in use.

Next up is Grace.

Today she learned the teleportation skill that is unique to the [Endermen] species, known as the [Ender~Dimension Leap].

Father Marbon managed to conceal any information pertaining Grace's status as an [Endermen] and also hid her true stats. But if Grace is willing, one could use the [Stone Tablet of Appraisal] to take a look.

Or maybe someone with a skill like [Clear Eyes] would be able to see through the illusion that Marbon has made.

I digress. Back to the [Enderman].

In this world, spells that are related to space/dimension travel are all big and flashy, requiring long chants and large mana costs. It's not that they are a rarity where it's very hard to find, since some of the big cities do big transportation with Mass-Teleport. But more like, it is completely impractical to use this in combat.

And also, one needs the talent and affinity to learn this kind of magic. So despite the fact that it's not too rare, it's not common either.

Not common enough for me to have seen anyone use this kind of magic, at least.

But, the [Ender~Dimension Leap] has no mana cost, needs no incantation, and can be used by Grace whenever she wishes.

There is a cool down of 0.5 seconds, basically a blink of an eye. The range limit is 128 meters.

This opens up soooo many possibilities for Grace. She can repeatedly teleport around the field, hitting and running like a phantom.

... My gawd. Mama-mia, this is such a cheat worthy skill.

Also, she has managed to learn a passive skill called [Chorus Seed] along with an active skill called [Chorus Bloom].

In this world, if you learn a skill without ever having been able to use it before, then the [Stone Tablet of Appraisal] will not be able to provide any information for you. We did could not use it to gain information on what these two skills can do.

[Chorus Flower] is a kind of flower that grows in _The End_ in  Minecraft. A place that is filled to the brim with Endermen and other Ender-related creatures.

Didn't think that this would actually become a skill though.

Let's test that skill in the future. It's gotta be another cheater skill anyway... *grumble grumble*

"...Walson, here." Grace reached a hand towards the back of her neck, and proceeded to untie the necklace she has always worn with her.

It's her Ender-pearl necklace. I remember it's just a thin cord plus an ender-pearl.

But I did a double take, since there was suddenly a SECOND ender-pearl on the necklace. Eh!? Eh!?

We quickly took a look with the [Stone Tablet of Appraisal], and determined that this necklace is an augmented equipment that can grow with the user, something more often known as [Growth Equipment].

It's a piece of equipment that could grow as long as the user keeps growing. I heard that the elves are the most renowned owners of these kind of equipment.

Elves as a race, holds a racial skill called [Elvenise] short for "Elvenisation". It's a skill that can turn the item into their own personal [Growth Equipment].

But this skill can only be used once per life time.

For example, there was an Elven Archer who found a bow he really liked. By using [Elvenise] on the bow, the bow turns into his personal weapon that grows stronger along with him.

[Growth Equipment] is really an interesting topic. I read it on a book, but never thought I would see one with my own eyes.

In Grace's case, as long as she keeps growing, the necklace seems to create more Ender-pearls in a manner that is similar to Cell Division.

What was originally thought to be a decoration quickly became so much more than that as we started testing.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as similar to the Ender-pearls from Minecraft as I thought it would be.

In fact, these Ender-pearls seem to act like a "Waypoint".

As was mentioned before, Grace's teleportation range limit is 128 meters. But with the pearls, it can be exceeded.

No matter how far away she is, she can choose to teleport to where the pearl is. So let's say she is across the country and she wants to go home. If there was a pearl inside her home, she can instantly return.

But someone who isn't Grace can still use the pearl, it just functions differently. I can throw the pearl, and I end up teleporting to where the pearl landed, just like in Minecraft. Except, the pearl isntantly returns to my hand, so it can be used repeatedly.

Wow, this thing could cause a revolution.

"... Here, the spare, you have it." Grace took the new pearl and handed it to me.

... It feels like Grace is trying to tell me something? This doesn't feel like an ordinary gift.

Anyway, I accepted it with gratitude.

* * *

As everyone sat in a loose circle on the ground, we organized the things and reviewed our performance today.

I questioned Grace about her use of magic.

The speed of the [Razor Wind] spell can be affected by the air and wind, therefore making it easier for nimble opponents to dodge. And when I saw that the [Shadow Arrow] flew much quicker, I really wondered why didn't Grace use something like a [Shadow Cutter] spell.

But then Grace told me more about magic in general. The incantation is basically an instruction for the spirits in the atmosphere, or it can be said as a blue-print woven with words and then given to the spirits to build.

Almost all magical incantation that was passed down are "Unthinking" incantations.

Think of it like trying to order food with a different language. You memorized the words, but have no idea what the words mean. Then you list down the steps of making the food in that language, to the chef that only understands the other language.

Try and think of "I want a cookie with chocolate chips baked inside the oven for thirty minutes then cooled on the tray" in a different language.

Now try "I want fire shaped in a ball sent towards my target swiftly".

In order to 'modify' spells, one needs to deepen their understanding of the spirit's language. The vocabulary and grammars are just two of the many obstacles to magic.

It is also the hardest thing to teach when it's related to magic though. Which is why incantations are still memorized and not structurally created letter by letter from the spirit alphabet.

Not only do you not really know what the incantation will produce, you also have to watch out for your mana. If you don't have enough mana for a spell that you don't understand, dangerous things might happen.

"... Uhm, I thought I heard someone say that 'Imagination is Magical' before?" I thought back to several quotes inside books I have read while on **Earth**.

"... I like that way of thinking. Will study more." Grace gave me a decisive nod. I have confidence in her, she will definitely make it work somehow. If anyone could do it, it would be Grace.

So, by beating enemies that have higher levels than our was a great way to increase our levels. Today was a great success.

But... the strongest enemies around the forests and mountains are all around level forty or so. If we keep getting stronger, it will also mean making it harder to go higher.

I have been stuck on LV25 for two whole months. I finally made it to LV26 today.

Watching the sky slowly darken, I quickly grabbed Grace and made our way back to the Orphanage.

Of course I didn't forget to grab the big bag of slime balls and slime cores on my way out! What do you think I am? An idiot?

I think I brought around a hundred or so? I thought that it would have been a good number to bring.

But it turns out the other children all got less than ten.

... How unfortunate... for me...

Mitty, the idiot that was two years older than the both of us, said something like "You relied on Grace" and what not, challenging me for a duel.

I took care of him, and that's about it.


	20. Not a Chapter: Some news from HoGa

HoGa has stated that he has read all your reviews and heard all of your wishes.

Currently, the original Chinese version has enough words to fit into three books, and HoGa intends to someday publish it as actual novels.

If he gets enough support, he will start adjusting his work and rewrite all the previous chapters. He also intends to eventually have it translated and spread overseas.

If Mojang gives a yes, then HoGa will probably publish it with their support, if not at least consent (because neither HoGa or I own Minecraft).

But otherwise, HoGa will publish it with his own money. The number of books would be small but at least the people who are willing to buy it can get them.

Also, he has expressed his desire to recruit artists to help make a manga version. One artist already answered the call, but we have no idea how soon the manga is going to come along.

The Chinese novels will finish first once HoGa has all the text ready. Then it will fall upon... me... to get the overseas version going.

* * *

Me: GODDAMMIT I AM SUPER IRRESPONSIBLE! AND I CAN'T TAKE PRESSURE! (I blame my mental health for that)

If he actually wants me to do the official translation I feel like I'm gonna die. (°ཀ°) And if I work too slow, you're all gonna kill me.

* * *

As of now, HoGa has 80 or so chapters released on his blog while the others are in reserve and will be slowly released once a week.

In this translated English version on fanfiction dot net, a chapter is about 1.5k words per average. I have no idea how many chapters one novel will include since 80k ~ 90k is a good range for a novel, and the first arc is probably nowhere near that long.

Anyway, this is just a bit of news that HoGa released on his blog. Passing this over here since I don't want to cram these things into the author note of a chapter.


	21. Chapter 19: Sting like a bee

**AN:**

 **[HoGa] wants to ask if anyone is interested in helping with the Manga.**

 **Currently, it's only in the planning phase, but if we have some more artists, it would smooth things over.**

 **And in the case of translation (since the original will be in Chinese), we need someone to add texts. I can do the translation, but the best I can do is use "Paint" and add some ugly looking texts in.**

 **Also, for people who are interested in the real-book copies, we would need some assistance on that front.**

 **Since both HoGa and I live in Asia, the shipment fee would be outrageous for people outside of Asia. Even if the book can be bought online, if it was printed in Asia, there would be a lot of shipment fee.**

 **In order to avoid this problem, we want to ask if anyone knows a local company that can print the books for you. Currently, USA, UK, Australia, Canada are the four countries that most readers come from. So we would like to find a printing company for those first. After all, if any of you want to buy it, it would be sad if the shipping fee costs more than the actual book.**

 **For people who want to directly contact HoGa, here is his email: ah311066ha(at sign)gmail dot com**

* * *

It's snowing.

Winter has officially begun. Finally!

There is a significant decline for outdoor training sessions for the [Fighter] and [Mage] children during winter.

Similarly, the children who are [Commoners] are also more relaxed than usual, since winter is a farm slack season.

But we still have other jobs to do. We spend most of our time inside the indoor workshop pickling or drying vegetables... with salted water.

What they make here doesn't taste too bad, but my stuff tastes waaaay better.

Ever since Grace started to regularly eat the food that I made, she always sports a frown when eating food provided by the Orphanage.

Neither of us would be able to ever go back to those days where we were able to stomach their food. Not that we wished to.

As mentioned before, the kids are now ensconced indoors since weather conditions are not ideal for outdoor activities. Maany took the chance to teach the [Fighter] and [Mage] children other things, such as reading and basic mathematics.

For most of the children in the Orphanage, they find those lessons to be extremely bland and uninteresting.

As for me... I took the opportunity each winter to learn more about the language of this world. It took about three years give or take.

Incidentally, after coming back from the mountains with Grace, I came into contact with a [Stone Tablet of Appraisal].

... Troublesome, very troublesome.

I can modify my stats to show false information, to a degree.

The [Stone Tablet of Appraisal] comes in many different rankings. It's easy to influence the outcome of a "normal" one than it is to influence one of higher "quality".

The tablet in the Orphanage is a very old "normal" one. It didn't take too much effort for me to change the results from the scan.

I already tested this with the tablet inside my secret base, which is also a "normal" one. Grace and Melon were very willing when I used it to scan them, so it suited me just fine.

With that said, let's come back to the present.

I am currently inside my secret base. It took a lot of effort getting here without leaving a trail, since walking on snow would leave very obvious footprints.

An earlier promise I made to Melon demanded that I make a good weapon for her, and right now I am doing my best to tailor a sword for her.

So I brought out the gigantic stinger from the wasp queen that we got. But it could be said that this stinger isn't actually a stinger, since it looks much more like a gigantic, irregularly shaped blade.

It's already shaped like a bladed weapon, it's about fifty centimeters long, and has a black sheen to it.

It is also more durable than my black iron, but I wonder how durable it actually is? Seems like a good component for a weapon.

It would have been aggravating for the normal crafters to use such durable materials, but I have no trouble on that front since I have a [Crafting Table] from Minecraft.

A lot of stuff which are not in Minecraft can still be created by using it as long as it fits with the things I want in my head...

I think this ability is related to my imagination, using it to bridge the gap.

Aaaand, it's completed! (Yes, it was super effortless)

The original shape of the stinger remains mostly unchanged, with some minute differences after it is officially made into a weapon.

By the way, the stinger is hollow inside. There exists a small tube like structure that connected to the poison sac that would have pumped poison into the victim in its original state.

The hole is very small and does not hamper the sharpness of the weapon, so I decided to modify it for my own benefit.

I connected a small bag that contained a [Magic Stone (Air)] to it.

I obtained this magic stone when rescuing Melon, discovering it on the broken carriage nearby.

After identifying it, it was confirmed to be of 'High' quality. Not something obscenely expensive or rare, but it's the real deal.

A magic stone is basically a stone that can store magical energy/mana inside it.

By injecting a bit of mana into it, a spell that was keyed into the stone would activate. Once it runs out of energy, you just need to refill it and seal it inside to be able to reuse it.

The small bag that has the windstone is then implemented into the hilt of the blade. Aside from being made out of my black iron, I also added some powdered mythril.

Mythril is something that has very high magic conductivity, and therefore valuable on the open market.

It is also quite rare. I only have a little bit of it available, so I need to be careful and efficient.

Weapons made out of mythril could also be strengthened by magical enhancements that were given to the weapon, a useful property that not many other metals or minerals have.

The magic stone I have connected the black blade with has the spell [Heavy Wind] keyed into it. It is a spell that produces winds with heavy pressure. And since it is condensed while sending it out of a thin tube from the blade, it is quite deadly.

If you stab this weapon into an enemy's body, then activate the magic stone... you can cause an explosive amount of damage.

I gave this weapon the name: Blade Bee

... Stop laughing at my naming sense, I know you're laughing...

After that, I placed it onto an [Anvil], seeking to enchant it.

In Minecraft, an [Anvil] can be used to enchant equipment when used together with enchanted books.

You might wonder what these enchanted books are. Well, essentially I take ordinary books, and place it onto the [Enchantment Table], and bestow the book a special property.

One book can only hold one enchantment, and because of this, some people might think it's stupid to use enchanted books.

But there are many different enchantments that are available in Minecraft, and if you want something specific, then the chances of getting what you want are way too small. You have to repeatedly enchant it until you got what you were looking for, wasting a lot of time and resources.

Which is why enchanted books are a good thing! By enchanting the books separately, I just need to collect the necessary books I want and then use them together to get what I need.

Currently, I can produce two enchanted books per day. After so many days, I have finally acquired the books that I were looking for.

Speaking of which, since real life physics are actually applied, what are the things that could possibly be altered?

In Minecraft, the enchantment table required EXP, but now in this life, it uses my mana. What else could change?

There are so many possibilities! It's worth looking, I suppose.

Opening the [Anvil] interface, I immediately used [Sharpness IV], [Knockback II], and [Looting II].

That's three books already gone. But I don't feel any regret.

When I presented this gift to Melon, the smile on her face and the happiness that practically oozed from her was all worth it. What kind of man would I be if I don't live to make girls smile?

I didn't forget Grace either.

Sneakily stealing a book from the library, I researched more about the structure of magical staves.

It would hardly be any trouble to create a basic mage staff. But why the heck would I want to create something so normal (and boring) to give it to Grace? She deserves much better.

I am definitely going to give her something awesome!

... Or try to. The book I snuck out of the library only recorded the barest of facts. I will end up going blind if I truly wanted to make something better. It's not something as easy as making a sword, so I can't just wing it.

I guess I will have to be a bit of a jerk and leave Grace hanging for a while.

* * *

~Walson's Q&A zone~

Hi readers! I am Walson!

I have broken the fourth wall to talk with you all! Hang in there Fourth Wall, I might have broken you but please don't die on me.

HoGa and Minaly22 are doing their best to reiterate my adventures. Please don't be too hard on them alright?

I have noticed that there have been lots of questions and decided that it would be a good thing for me to personally answer them.

Since I will be directly communicating with all of you, you are all welcome to leave more questions. You could ask anything, really.

 **1\. Will Minaly22 ever stop updating?**

A: Eh, the answer is "depends". Minaly22 can't take pressure very well, but they want to learn to handle more pressure and doesn't want to give up on this story. So the answer is, updates will always be available, it just depends on when it comes out.

 **2\. When can I buy the book?**

A: Not any time soon, I'm afraid! HoGa is still making sure that everything is ready on the Chinese side of things, and Minaly22 is still not mentally prepared to do it. But don't worry, we will tell you when it's ready.

 **3\. Where is HoGa's blog?**

A: I'm afraid that fanfiction dot net is very unfriendly with web addresses and URLs. So we cannot provide that information as easily as we would like to. But here is a trick: if you go to google and search for "Bahamut Taiwan Forum h19990125h" then you should be very close to where HoGa is.

* * *

This is the conclusion of ~Walson's Q&A zone~. See you next time!


	22. Chapter 20: Ripe for the picking

**(PS: The actual title of this chapter is "Melon's coming of age." but I really wanted to use "Ripe for the picking")**

* * *

Two more winters flew by.

I am now thirteen years old in body and forty-three in mind.

... I don't really feel like I have entered my 'midlife' phase. In fact, it's hard to fall into midlife crisis when I had a brand new beginning.

Puberty is on its way, though... which is something that I will have to watch out for.

I took a peek into the training room inside the secret base, making sure that Melon is occupied, and less likely to notice when something happens.

* * *

The training room was a new addition to the secret base that I made half a year ago.

Inside the room are ten spinning iron dummies, with improved schematics and movements. Not only was the mechanism upgraded, I also connected them all together. Which means, by hitting one dummy, all the other dummies will respond as well.

Effectively creating a 1 vs 10 situation.

Additionally, I installed the iron dummies in various places, such as having a few on the wall, another few on the ceiling, etc. So when you start training with these, they will literally attack you from all directions.

I also added some dispenser into some of them. There are rocks that have been painted with ink that would be shot from the dispenser. That makes it possible to count how many times you've been hit and urge you to become better.

I added some redstone mechanism to improve the functionality of iron dummies, and with that created new function and mechanics in the room. The new stuff are too numerous to count and too complicated to explain properly.

Man, it's so bad that it took me a whole year to finish all this.

As for why I decided to do all this? It was because I wanted to disperse the blow behind Melon's attacks.

That's right, you heard me. All this, just because Melon's blows were too strong.

She goes through iron dummies extremely quickly. One iron dummy would quickly lose all its durability and break. So I thought ten dummies all at once should be able to force her spread out the attacks, and by extension increase the life-span of the dummies.

* * *

Alright, she isn't paying attention to me.

I took that chance and brought out a set of chainmail and continue my work.

This set of chainmail's appearance is modeled after a one-piece dress. Its color is black because I used black iron to make it.

But this time, the black iron isn't just iron and coal/carbon. I added powdered Mythril into the mixture, which was made possible thanks to the [Crafting Table], to increase its magical conductivity.

It offers physical protection and magical conductivity simultaneously because it holds the property of both the original black iron and powdered Mythril. If this equipment were to be sold on the open market, it would definitely fetch a handsome price; not to mention that I am going to enchant it later.

Speaking of enchantments, I have made it my mission to make them every day and stockpiled a staggering number of enchanted books with lots of variety in two years.

I also made some nice breakthroughs on that front. It turns out that that the types of enchantments available from the enchantment table are no longer limited to the ones that are tied to Minecraft.

But those are pretty rare, and we don't have much of them in stock.

Let's talk about marketing later.

You might be wondering what I'm doing right now? Well, I'm trying to sew a layer of silk padding under the chainmail.

Wearing the chainmail bare would definitely be uncomfortable, and wearing padded clothing under the chainmail would be cumbersome (it also makes the person wearing it look bloated, which is visually unappealing).

With that in mind, I used special silks that I gathered from spider/arachnid monsters.

Using my own special weaving technique, I have managed to create silk cloth that is both ductile and breathable. Fashioning it into a one-piece dress was even easier.

Oh! I have to make the silk dress detachable, to make it more convenient to clean or replace.

This whole thing is my present for Melon's 15th birthday and coming of age. That's right, tonight is going to be a party.

In this world, turning fifteen years old is an important milestone.

Presents are given and even families in the bottom of the financial ladder will try their best to scrounge up a bowl of meat soup for the birthday kid.

To be alone and have no body to celebrate the fifteen years old birthday with... is a pretty miserable experience.

The importance of this coming of age thing is so high that it cannot be clearly measured.

In Melon's case, she is older than Grace and me by two years. And today would be the day she turns fifteen.

That's why I must fulfill the obligation as her friend and get a good present for her! Which is also the reason why I am taking advantage of the time to work on the finishing touch.

As for the weaving techniques... I learned them from the village textile shop.

Me going to the textile shop is mostly due to the Orphanage regulations.

All orphans as the age of fifteen must leave the Orphanage, and they made arrangements for children that are thirteen years old to receive training through apprenticeships. They send the children into town and let them gain experience by working.

Remember how I mentioned it would have been great if they sent us kids to town and learn how to work? Well, turns out they already had that system in place. It's just that there were not enough openings for work that would warrant recruiting kids that are below thirteen.

I chose to work in the textile shop when given the choice, since despite the many useful features of the [Crafting Table], there are still limits.

I am not too concerned about my future since I am very rich - Oh, wait. Correction. I have the "potential" to be very rich.

All I need to do is actually sell things on the market, and I will start to roll in hills of gold.

With my [Brewing Stand], I have created a very powerful healing tonic known as...

*Drum Roll*

the MPOH (β)! *Tada!*

* * *

(Stage whisper: for those who are wondering, its short for [Malbor Potion of Healing (Beta)].)

* * *

I have officially named it MPOH (β) for various reasons. Firstly, the original Malbor potion, which I refer to as Malbor Potion Alpha, is very inferior by comparison. Since beta stands for "two" in the greek alphabet, I thought it would be nice to distinguish my creation as the improved version of the original.

This baby can regrow limbs. Enough said.

Also, because [MPOH (β)] sounds really bad ass (and medically professional), I am going to use this from now on.

Unfortunately, I have had second thoughts on selling this world-changing medical cure on the open market. If I ever wanted to sell them, I will have to water it down or dilute it with something else.

Potioneering aside, I can still make lots of money by selling personally crafted equipment though!

... But then again, I can't just throw enchanted equipment which has special properties and functions onto the market without consequences either.

Urgh. (Insert "Long, suffering sigh" here)You guys have no idea how dismayed I am.

You guys have no idea how dismayed I am.

Anyways, two hours has passed since I have started to work on the chainmail.

There was finally a heavy thud that indicated that Melon has exhausted herself and collapsed on the ground.

She must be very tired now.

Despite having installed an emergency stop switch, the only way to get her to stop is to wait until she tires herself out.

... Something which is extremely impressive. Two hours inside a training room that has ten rotation dummies made from hard iron attacking from all sides.

Who would be able to last that long against ten opponents?

"Melon? Melon? Are you alright?" I shouted in concern as I hid the finished chainmail inside my [Inventory].

"I'm... *huff*... fine, Master. A moment..."

"I am glad you are unhurt. Relax and go wash up. I will put your clothing at the usual spot."

"Okay..." She seems tuckered out.

By the way! The training room and the bathroom are connected.

This also means that there is less chance for Melon to wreck our plans while she takes a bath.

I was thinking to myself " _Hmm. It's five in the afternoon. It's almost time._ " when suddenly, flower petals appeared in my vision.

"... Walson, good afternoon." Grace greeted me.

By using the [Ender Pearl] that is housed inside the secret base, she can easily transport herself back and forth now.

"Hi Grace, how was work? Do you like your job at the magic stone shop?" She is currently interning at the magic stone shop, and her main contribution is to inject more mana into the stones.

We mentioned that storing mana into the stones is essential before, but I have neglected to mention that not everyone has enough mana to store. But since Grace has lots of mana to spare, she took the job.

"... Work was smooth. No problems to me." She said.

Grace's skill in expression has improved a lot in these two years.

She has started to use "Me" and "I" in her speech. Perhaps that is due to the fact that she has a friend in Melon to chat with now.

Since they started to get along, they also attended each other's birthdays. And since today's is even more special than the ones before, there was no way Grace would miss it.

I took out a hand-made sandwich with the usual specially processed meat in it, and handed them to her.

Speaking of which, Grace didn't stop growing in the vertical department and is now half a head taller than I am.

We started to prepare for the birthday feast and brought out the separate presents we prepared.

"Grace, what did you get for her?" I asked as I secretly observed the bathroom door in case Melon walks in.

I almost wanted to take a peak.

Keyword: Almost.

But I also almost got my head bashed in by a staff the last time.

The Melon here now is different to the one we met four years ago.

She has a healthy and strong body now. Not to mention gigantic boobs.

Since she is doing martial arts training, her body is also quite attractive. With enticing vest line and curves.

Quite sexy. I likey.

Sometimes I would grope at her ass or pretend to grab her boobs despite her wearing armor over her chest. She then gives me an embarrassed look and said stuff like "Master, Please don't..." or "Master, this is indecent..."

Despite openly sexually harassing her, she doesn't seem to actively prevent or refuse them. In fact, her behavior almost makes it better...

But of course, Grace is usually right behind me, ready to smite me with her staff when that happens.

"... Ah! Everyone is here." At this moment, Melon stepped out from the bathroom with some light clothing on her person.

Her lovely red hair was still dripping with water, but it only makes it look more bright and luminous, like a rose colored flame.

"Surprise!" "... Tada."

Grace and I took our poses - something we practiced for a dozen times to get it just right - and shouted:

"Happy Birthday! Congratulations on your coming of age!"

The look of utter surprise on Melon's face was absolutely priceless.

* * *

~Walson's Q&A zone~

Hi readers! I am Walson!

Did any of you know that I actually managed to find a replacement for blaze powder when using the brewing stand?

Since the Blaze Rod was a very precious resource, I had to figure out some way to conserve it. I brought exactly thirteen blaze rods with me, and I used six to make brewing stands.

After using some blaze powder for brewing, I felt that this wouldn't do. I thought that if I could replace components to create a potion of healing, I would be able to find a replacement for it too.

At first, I tried using burning shaved wood and sawdust. But I had to constantly replace them, and it would drag out the brewing process for at least twelve hours, which is extremely ineffecient.

My solution was relatively simple. I modified the brewing stand so that it could use hot powdered iron instead. I place the hot iron powder into a small box, and Vuola.

The use of hot iron powder is limited to the brewing stand though since I still have not found any other uses for it yet.

Despite the fact that this kind of imposes a sort of 'cool down' on the brewing stand, I find it acceptable since I do not have a constant need for the brewing stand.

That's it for today folks! Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	23. Chapter 21: Bad Harvest, Bad Omens

We all enjoyed the celebratory feast.

"... Walson, you're squashing me..."

"Hey hang on, didn't you volunteer for this?"

Both Grace and I were lying on top of Melon's legs, enjoying the soft feeling of her body.

Initially, it was just me. But Grace didn't like being left out and decided to join me.

We all look like young siblings vying for the attention of their elder sister. Which technically isn't false, since Melon is two years older than us.

I suppose there is some part of us that look up to Melon.

"Thank you both for the wonderful feast." Melon was still smiling, and I noticed some traces of unshed tears in the corner of her eyes.

I will feel content so long as she keeps smiling.

Melon already started to wear the chainmail I gifted her, and she also has a pair of lizard leather gloves on her hand.

Grace was the person who gave the gloves to her. It seems like she used all the money she gathered for a month to buy it.

The gloves are made out of Desert Lizard's skin, which is not native to our region. It must have cost quite a penny.

The reason Grace thought it was a good gift was because she noticed that Melon preferred to fight with her bare hands.

... I should probably enchant those when I get the chance to.

* * *

I want to temporarily abandon the cheerful atmosphere from our previous subject.

Since what we are going to talk about now would not be so cheerful.

Well, I have been smuggling some food from the secret base into the Orphanage granary.

The Orphanage is going through a tough period since we had a bad harvest this year.

Despite not liking the Orphanage a lot, I was still raised in it, and I wish to help them.

I can't bring any meat, and I have to limit the number of potatoes that I want to bring, otherwise they might become suspicious.

I have brought my own food reserves to help the Orphanage, which is why the food reserves in the secret base had lowered sharply. This has been going on for several months now.

The stuff that we had in the secret base was enough to feed the three of us for an indefinite amount of time, but it couldn't sustain the Orphanage for long.

I have tried to supplement our supplies by using lots of [Bone Meal] to help produce more crops. But this method requires tons of [Bone Meal].

And I have officially run out of [Bone Meal].

The source of the [Bone Meal] comes from bones. It could be bones from the undead, or even normal animals.

But if I want to get those bones then I have to go hunting. And going hunting when we had a bad harvest isn't really a good idea.

The bad harvest also made the monster population decline since food is scarce, if I go hunt for enough bones to supply enough [Bone Meal] to feed everyone, then I might as well kill off everything. That is not a productive thing to do.

Also, who would have enough time to hunt for bones all day, then smuggle food into the Orphanage during the night? It's a pretty time-consuming operation.

By the way, the reason we had a bad harvest this year is not related to the weather conditions. We didn't have a drought this year.

It's because the land has become less fertile.

But when I say "less fertile", it's also not caused by overcropping. Because it's not just the farmland going less fertile, the entire region is experiencing the same problem.

It's enough that even the plants in the forests are wilting by the dozens, something that is normally impossible.

Something must have happened. This isn't natural.

The village has sent out bounties for adventurers to come investigate. "Find out why the mana of the land is running out" was what was written on the bulletin board.

Since I am not very sensitive to magical energies, I consulted Grace on what that meant, and she told me more about it.

Essentially, the mana in the soil is disappearing for some reason. And since all life requires mana, the life that lives off from the land are starting to decline.

The adventurers local to our village are already preparing to launch an investigation, but they cannot go further into the mountains.

Mainly because they are mindful of the Golden Phantasmal Wolf that resides there, not wishing to encroach Arkon's territory.

... It's also thanks to Arkon that my secret base wasn't discovered by the investigation since it's inside his territory.

The other village closest to our village is two days away on horse and carriage travel. It's called the Totoku village.

Both Sadin (our village), and Totoku village are in the very remote part of the kingdom. To our east is the "Great forest of nakula".

The adventurers have to travel to Totoku village, then make their way into the great forest of nakula in order to avoid Arkon. But the Totoku village wasn't hit as hard by this incident as we are.

I have begun my own investigation as well.

I have noticed that the closer it is to my secret base, the wilting and decaying also gets more severe.

After a week of observation, I did not make any actions, since I have came to the conclusion that the source of the problem was definitely not in our forest.

* * *

*Sniff sniff*. I snuggled my face into Melon's thighs and inhaled her scent.

It has a slight fragrance to it. I am very glad that I still remember how to make soap from my previous life.

* * *

Anyway, the great forest of nakula.

In the ancient language, "nakula" means mysterious beauty, and is also the name of the patron guardian of forest.

The forest is big enough to cover 5% of our region, and it's literally a sea of green when you turn yourhead to look to the east.

Only the outskirt is counted as true 'forest' since the deeper you go, the more and more it starts to resemble a jungle.

The monsters that inhabit the jungle are very strong. They would have been an ideal target for me to raise my level if it weren't for the fact that it was too bloody far away.

Despite the fact that my secret base is located in the deeper parts of the forest, it's still only a small section of it. Arkon lives here after all.

If we try and compare the great forest of nakula with an apple, then the forest I am living in is counted as the apple skin.

The nakula forest is filled with mysteries.

I have determined that something must have happened in the jungle-like part of the forest.

The distance is pretty far, but I think it would be manageable if we take advantage of Grace's ability to teleport.

But I shouldn't rely on that completely. One rule of going into the jungle is to go prepared.

The closer we get to the center, the more plants that could decrease visibility will appear. There are also swamps and bogs which are dangerous in their own right.

In that case, Grace's ability to teleport will be restricted by the terrain. Which is why I have been doing my best to prepare for our campaign.

This has forced me to double my efforts on finishing the chainmail that I wanted to gift to Melon.

* * *

"Master, it tickles." Melon was starting to blush, but her facial expression didn't change too much.

Melon is cautious when it comes to emotional display. It's kind of endearing.

"... Walson, don't screw around."

... I really wish that Grace could stop poking me with her staff so threateningly.


	24. Chapter 22: Zombie Rangers and Bonemeal

We have dedicated two days to preparing for the trip, and today is the day that we have planned to head out.

But to be completely honest, it was really because we had to wait two days before Grace's day off.

We can't just leave our work behind and go on an adventure, you know? Have to be responsible and all.

Our objective is to find out why the land is weakening - and hopefully solve the issue if I can. I am not trying to be boastful and say that we can singlehandedly solve the problem, but I am just saying that it would be great if we save everyone's time by investigating and resolving the issue both at once.

We got no idea what is causing this, but it has been causing ALL the farmland near the area to go barren in a blink of an eye.

Assuming that this was truly caused by the lack of mana in the land, then this could be categorized as a "disaster". Like how earthquakes and tsunamis are counted as disasters, the mana of the land suddenly disappearing is also considered to be disastrous.

Although I originally thought that the issue was similar to how the nutrients in the soil were out of balance (which would cause infertility), the problem is really much more serious than that.

Slowly, everything will decay until there is nothing but a barren dessert. If things get to that point, then it's truly hopeless and irreversible.

Speaking of which, this world does not often experience troubles like this. Since even if there was a drought and no rain would fall, people could still hire [Mages] to cast water magic, and water the crops that way.

It was obvious that it wasn't just a bad harvest in hindsight. Bad harvest, for everyone, everywhere nearby, and several months consecutively? Infertility wouldn't be like this, unless someone intentionally salted the fields. But a salted field is very obvious to notice, and to salt every single field at once would be impossible to not be ratted out by someone.

No casualties have been reported. The price for food stuff has drastically increased. It should be just a matter of time before someone - and eventually everyone - finally starves to death.

Famine.

How scary...

The capital of our kingdom shouldn't be aware of the news yet, but messengers have been dispatched. They would probably send some help later on.

Hiring adventurers is probably just a stop-gap. Because if an average adventurer could solve such a large issue on their own, then they would be heroes and not adventurers.

* * *

Grace, Melon and I are walking along the marshy bog. We were wearing shoes with long traction cleats to avoid slipping.

"So much mud..." Grace was already starting to spam teleportation, not willing to touch the ground for too long.

Hey girl, don't be so lazy! If you only teleport and not exercise, you're gonna grow fat.

"Master, be careful." Melon was surveying the surroundings with a frown on her face.

She was wary for a reason, and I am aware of that reason.

We have already been surrounded.

But honestly, we really have no intention to avoid combat. In fact, we are mighty curious to what we would encounter around this region.

Ominous 'clack clack' sounds were coming from every direction.

[Rotten Zombie Swordsman_LV31_HP:365/365_Status: Curse of the Wither (I)_Title: None]

[Rotten Zombie Swordsman_LV32_HP:380/380_Status: Curse of the Wither (I)_Title: None]

[Rotten Zombie Archer_LV33_HP:402/402_Status: Curse of the Wither (I)_Title: None]

[Rotten Zombie Mage_LV30_HP:355/355_Status: Curse of the Wither (I)_Title: None]

[Rotten Zombie Berserker_LV36_HP:721/721_Status: Curse of the Wither (I), Berserk (III)_Title: None]

Five of these zombies are walking towards us in an almost orderly fashion. All of them are wearing tattered equipment.

The biggest one of all has a gigantic rusty axe, and full body armor which almost half of it has rusted over.

The heck? Their level is pretty damn high!

At first, I thought we would eliminate all undead that we encounter - since we really need more bonemeal.

But their average level exceeds 30, plus they have a mage AND a berserker.

Could this be a team of adventurers that died here a long time ago? In terms of strength, that berserker in particular stands out.

Oh, I think I should explain the differences between zombies and skeletons.

Skeleton monsters appear naturally in environments with high mana density, while Zombies requires corpses and have to be altered post-mortem.

And... that "Curse of the Wither"... What is that status? I've never seen it before.

It reminds me of a monster that a player could encounter in the _Nether_ of  Minecraft.

The Wither Skeleton.

They are a type of skeletal monster that has pitch black coloring, fire immunity, and causes the negative status effect "Wither" to be applied to whomever it attacks.

The "Wither" status is similar to poison that it would continuously chip down your health over time.

But this sort of monster should only appear in the _Nether_ , and so far I have never seen anything like it in this world.

Also, the Zombies do not seem like they are losing any health.

Which must mean that "Wither" and "Curse of the Wither" are two different things? Is it a coincidence?

Should we retreat?

... No, it doesn't look like that's an option. They are already starting to fight us.

I took out a wall of stone that I have assembled in advance, using it to block a dark sphere that was sent by the Zombie Mage. They are too slow.

The Zombie Mage continues to chant... Uhm... do Zombies have the vocal cords to chant spells? Anyway, its not stopping, and it has successfully casted a spell already so questioning it now wouldn't matter.

"Hey, girls! Don't use fire! We won't have bones to make [Bonemeal] otherwise."

"●●○● ￣, Shadow Hammer!" Grace did not bother to give me a response and showed me she understood with her actions instead.

I inspired Grace to create this spell. I originally brainstormed with her about new attacks and told her that having a black hammer to deal blunt damage wouldn't be amiss.

She has successfully deciphered the ancient alphabet and created a new spell of her own. What a genius.

The spell can deal massive damage, but because of that fact that she still doesn't have high efficiency for that particular spell, she cannot cast it in quick succession.

The Zombie Mage from earlier seems to be dumbfounded and was immediately crushed to bits by the hammer.

By the way, spells in this world is made up of the elemental energies of Fire, Water, Earth, Air, plus Light and Dark.

The first four are 'bound' to certain forms, like fire. You can't expect a fireball to not be burning and still call it a fire spell.

But Light and Dark are not bound by forms. You can change its shape however you want - as long as you know the words to reshape them. Grace's Shadow Hammer is a good example of how malleable spells are so long as you know what you're doing.

Light magic is not often used offensively, and are more focused on healing or supporting.

But Light magic has the special effect of cleansing, and are excellent when used against undead. But that way the undead would all evaporate. In this case, we WANT the bones, so Light magic is out of the question.

The Zombie Archer shot an arrow at Grace, but she disappeared in a flurry of flower petals.

Using teleportations to avoid attacks is only one of the many applications of it.

The moment that Grace disappeared, another shadow hammer slammed into the Archer from top to bottom, once again crushing it to bits.

How amazing! Grace is LV27, but she can handle LV30 monsters with such ease.

It seems like I was being too much of a worrywart when the thought of 'retreat' came into my mind. We can take on these guys no problem.

The enemy only had two ranged attackers, and both have been handled by Grace. So now I switched my attention to Melon.

... I guess I know why Grace didn't immediately fire spells at the other Zombies now.

Melon is having a close-ranged combat against the berserker and the two swordsmen.

No, wait. The swordsmen can't even touch her, that means they are not really part of the combat.

One of the swordsmen listlessly threw out an attack, Melon would misdirect it by pushing it away. The end result was that the blade ended up cutting the other Zombie swordsman. An arm fell off.

Then Melon swiftly ended the first Zombie who dared to attack her with a viscious elbow blow to the head.

At the same time, she did a roundhouse kick that scattered the Zombie missing an arm into pieces.

She's only LV26, but her power is irrefutable. She kills these monsters in one hit.

The last one remaining, the Zombie Berserker made some clacking sounds, and lifted its axe to make an intimidating over head strike.

"Watch -" I was still in the process of pronouncing 'out' when Melon defeated the berserker.

She closed the distance in the blink of an eye, and the Zombie Berserker was missing a knee.

She did not falter and continued her assault by landing an uppercut while the Zombie Berserker was tilting to one side due to losing its balance.

The uppercut went right through the skull, obliterating it in one hit.

Her actions were smooth, and not a single move was wasted.

"..." I stared at Melon speechlessly.

WOOOOOOOOW! Kung Fu master!

Her level didn't rise too much since the time we went honey hunting six months ago. But she has undoubtedly become stronger.

How the hell did she get this strong? All I ever did was make the ten iron dummies for you to practise. Did that really make that much of a difference?

I GOT to look at her stats again with the [Tablet of Appraisal] once we get back.

Technically, all three of us are having a hard time trying to increase our level. Since normally it's not possible to go on expeditions frequently. Plus we were all busy.

... But man, Melon's growth is phenomenal.

"Master, all the shattered bones have been gathered." Melon came towards me, casual and unbothered, not a single hair out of place, as if nothing has happened.

Grace was examining the tattered remains of the equipment that the Zombies once wore.

"Ah, okay. Let's go." Then, we all moved on.


	25. Chapter 23: Lost Adventurers

After the end of that brief skirmish, we rounded up all the bones on the ground. Going through the calculation with a unique formula in my head, I came to the conclusion that this could make enough [Bonemeal] to sustain the three of us in the secret base for a week.

... Huh? You think it's less than you'd expected? Well, this is the normal amount if we add into the fact that we want Grace and Melon to eat well.

Melon, who is a close range fighter, especially needs to have a heavily regulated diet for better physical fitness. Her physical fitness will reflect on her performance in battle, and we don't want her to get hurt simply because we neglected to feed her, right?

... Also, she is fifteen, and still in the growing phase where people could potentially shoot up like grass stalks. Racially speaking, I have no idea whether fifteen is still counted to be 'growing' for Lizardkin, but probably? Yeah? Maybe?

The equipment that the Zombies were wearing were all poorly maintained - not that a zombie would be able to do that. But in any case, it's too badly damaged for us to make any use of it.

From the appearance of the stuff, I think it's safe to assume that they were a party of adventurers. We also found the special name tags that only registered adventurers would own.

The zombies did not die recently, so they probably aren't the group of adventurers that were hired recently to solve the case. Judging from the age of the gear, it's safe to say that they died a couple of decades ago.

Another fact that supports this assessment is that the special tags used a design that was popular thirty years ago.

I managed to discern that because I've learned a lot more than just sewing in the village. I've also learned some necessary knowledge for appraisers, a bit of archeology, and other stuff.

Other people in the village would probably focus only on one profession, but I'm not like that, and they think it's not good to spread out my field of knowledge to such an extent - Anway, back to the topic.

The jungle... looks okay. There doesn't seem to be any problems yet, but I did learn something after that skirmish.

It's not wise to judge someone's level of strength based on their 'levels'. There are other factors to include, like skills.

A normal [Tablet of Appraisal] can only reveal what the skill's "types" are, and not the level of the skills. If I only think about levels, eventually I would end up facing someone like Melon who's strength is not really represented by it.

Should I buy an upgrade for my tablet? Is it possible to do modifications? It would be nice to know more about myself and have accurate information about my partners.

... I'm overthinking, and I'm off topic again. Back to the subject.

We might know more about the jungle if we go deeper, into the withered grounds.

"Let's keep going." I told Melon and Grace. At the same time, I looted all the equipment and placed them into my [Inventory].

It might be possible to find out more information about these dead adventurers. We have the special tags, and perhaps we could erect a cenotaph for them?

Their spirits haven't been put to rest, and have wandered for at least twenty years... I truly pity them.

"Uhm... Master?"

"Yes, Melon?"

"I hear the sounds of battle, and there is also the smell of blood in that direction. Should we take a look?" Melon pointed to the east.

"Eh? Seriously?"

I didn't detect anything with my [Mini-map], and it has the range of a hundred meters. I didn't expect Melon to have such keen senses.

And... sounds of combat?

"It feels like... four individuals are fighting. According to the vibration, they are probably fighting very fiercely."

"Vibration?" Hang on, she has keen enough senses to exceed the range of a hundred meters, AND she can sense vibration? You've been holding out on me Melon my dear.

"... I neglected to inform you that I've started to become sensitive to all kinds of vibrations. I apologize if I have inconvenienced you."

"Ooh - So you awakened a skill, good for you. Aw man, I also want to get new skills..." Was it because of the training with dummies? Must find out more when we head back.

"If only I could let you have my skill... it would be great for your, master."

"... Walson is great regardless." Grace who has been quiet for a while suddenly spoke.

"Ahaha. I was just joking." We were moving while chattering.

Normally, when people say 'moving' from one place to another, they mean that they walked.

But all three of us are using our own methods of travel to go deeper into the jungle.

Melon was up ahead, swiftly leaping from one tree to another.

Grace had a bit of trouble using her teleportation, since the environment is extremely humid and saps her strength. The cool down of the ability has noticeably lengthened, but staying together with us is not hard at all.

I took out my special invention from the [Inventory] while I was watching the two of them move through the jungle like the wind.

I remodeled the [Dispenser] into a [Mini-dispenser].

By combining my talents in weaving with this little thing, I have been able to shoot sticky strings made out of [Spiderwebs].

It is shaped like a forearm guard, and I wear one on each arm. I'm also wearing [Suction Gloves].

* * *

(There is that feeling again! Stop mocking my naming sense!)

* * *

These [Suction Gloves] allow me to stick to walls with my hands and helps when climbing vertically.

Their appearance is deceiving, since they look like normal gloves, but each finger has a small special magic stone on it.

Truthfully... the magic stones aren't really 'special' per se. It's just that, they are the type used for household cleaning.

It imitates the function of a vacuum cleaner and sucks up dust when magical energy is given. Those are the common types, and the ones on my gloves are custom-ordered magic stones with upgraded vacant absorption.

Despite being custom-ordered, they still come in pretty cheap. It only took me a few wolf-skins worth of money to buy them. Although I had no trouble on the monetary side, I was given looks of bafflement and perplexion by the people in the village, like they thought I was funny in the head.

Anyway, it gives me enough suction to hold my weight and stick to surfaces. Thus, allowing me to climb walls with relative ease.

Yes, you read that right. RELATIVE. Climbing walls this way still demands a big amount of muscle strength to pull off.

But my level is high enough for me to do it, so it's not too troublesome.

Aaaaaand you guessed right! The inspiration came from my previous life on earth, from the person that shoots sticky webs and climbs walls, swings from one building to another while wearing a red and blue bodysuit.

This method of movement needs very precise control.

As you all recall, I have already made this thing a few chapters ago, which was approximately half a year ago.

I've been practicing for six months, and let me tell you, it wasn't a nice experience at all.

I fell, then I fell the next time, I fell the other times, I fell again, then I fell again some more.

And yes, you can substitute all the "fell" from the previous sentence with "fail".

But now I have finally done it!

.

.

 ** _*Readers gives Walson skeptic looks*_**

.

.

Okay... fine! I have only managed to become proficient enough to swing from big structures to another.

*Grumble Grumble*

* * *

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I can see them!" I caught up to Melon with my smooth acrobatics ( _ ***readers gives Walson skeptic looks AGAIN***_ ) and managed to see four figures fighting in the distance with my [Mini-map].

"... No matter how many times I see it, I still think Master is a genius for coming up this method of travel. Mmph!" Melon praised me, then stopped on top of a tree to look out into the distance.

"... Walson is amazing."

"Don't flatter me, I'm gonna blush." It feels nice to have one's ego stroked. Ehehehe.

Being able to imitate scenes in comic books is great, but actually being able to do it is a whole different story. Comic book fans always dream of doing the things that superheroes in comic books do, they would kill for this kind of thing.

The three of us stood on the tree tops, looking fifty meters in front of us, at the scene where four people were fighting against a gigantic snake.

[Lawrence_LV29_HP:49/452_Status: Snake Venom (III)_Title: None]

[Mirabella_LV30_HP:11/284_Status: Coma, {Elvenized}_Title: None]

[Gabab_LV32_HP:172/576_Status: Normal_Title: None]

[Kulontan_LV27_HP:97/256_Status: Normal_Title: None]

From the look of their gear, they are adventurers alright. The party composition is... The female lying on the ground in a coma has a staff on the ground nearby and looks like a [Mage]. Then there is another person who is rolling on the ground in anguish... Haven't seen that one fight yet, but I guess it's a [Fighter]?

There are two more people at the front of the formation, and its a middle-aged male with a big shield, and another male - who is much younger than the previous one - running distractions on the side with twin daggers.

As for the enemy...

[Huge Amanra_LV36_HP:1568/2253_Status: Curse of the Wither (I)_Title: None]

Holy crap! The snake that is very colorful and vibrant barely lost half of its health!

The adventurers are definitely in big trouble. If this goes on, they're gonna get wiped.

And two of them are already incapacitated, doesn't look like they could just retreat.

"What do we do, Master?" "... Can we save them?"

Both Melon and Grace spoke.

Is there any reason not to save them? Of course we will do something. It would be sinful if we just stay here and turn a blind eye to this.

"Grace, don't approach. Distract it for me." It's probably not a good idea to spread the knowledge of Grace's teleportation ability, even if the situation is a bit dire.

"Master, does this mean you will confront it by yourself?" Oh my, I can't just let the spotlight stay on the two of you all the time. I also want to show the girls my strength.

"Yeah. Melon, standby for now."

Melon's hand-to-hand combat is still too freakishly strong, it would be better if I handled this.

With that said, I shot a sticky spider string to the tree tunk on the side, and lept off the tree.

At the same time, a massive amount of "razor wind" air blades assaulted the [Huge Amanra].

Alright! I just need to let Grace grab its attention for now.

The adventurers at the bottom seem to be clueless to what is going on. As I swung down from the tree, I shot another sticky string and pulled the twin dagger wielder away from the snake's range.

"Well met! Goodnight!" I threw a bottle of [Milk] that forcibly revert one's status to "Normal" towards the incapacitated adventurers, watching it shatter and splatter them with white liquid.

As the shield warrior started to turn towards me, I shot him a face full of sticky web to block his vision, then proceeded to pull him closer to his comrades.

Using a powdered quick-sedative made from the spores of [Slumbershroom], I put them directly to sleep.

Sorry~ Although I'm helping, I don't really want to show you guys what I can do with my various inventions.

I turned my gaze to the distracted [Huge Amanra].

Despite having been assaulted by Grace's "Razor Wind", the air blades cannot cut into its durable scales, thus doing nothing except distracting it.

But that's okay.

I shot a sticky string and watched it attach onto the side of the snake's head, and forcefully yanked it to make the snake turn towards me.

"Sraaaaaaaaa!" The [Huge Amanra] immediately started to fling its head around madly, and I cut the string before I was pulled away.

The special string I have made was made by using the [Crafting Table] and three spider strings. Spider strings are already durable on its own, but my kind is on a whole new level. It wouldn't have broken under normal circumstances.

"Yes yes yes, I love you too." Watching the furious snake hissing angrily at me with its mouth wide open, I threw a stick of dynamite directly into it.

With another string shot, I closed the mouth.

Then, it promptly exploded with a bang.

{Party has gained 4720 EXP}

"Goodnight." I said to the headless , that line was

Okay, that line was reaaaalllyyyy lame.

... I'm feeling embarresed.

"Grace, can you help me out here? Send them back to our secret base please?" I waved towards the Ender-girl.


	26. Chapter 24: An Odd Barrier

"Eh? You're back already? Did you tie them up properly?" I had Grace take them back to the base after healing them with my potions.

I also instructed her to tie them up tightly.

Due to her Enderpearls acting as waypoints, she can bypass the teleportation range limit and go in between them as she pleases.

Currently, Grace has four Enderpearls.

She has gifted me with one, and we placed another in the secret base. She has two more on her person, and hasn't found any need to use them just yet.

It seems like the pearls automatically appear when Grace's level of strength increases. How convenient.

Right, back to the present.

I sent her back with the adventurers, told her to tie them up, and she immediately reappears a few seconds later.

"... I didn't."

"Eh?"

"... Not good with knots." Grace said this with a slightly embarrassed look.

Ah, it seems like she doesn't know how to use ropes. I guess I should have Melon do it instead?

In the end, Grace took Melon with her back to the base, and then they both returned by homing on to the ender pearl on me.

We finally moved on after using up about ten minutes for the entire rescue (*ahem*, capture) of the adventurers.

We came all the way here by following the marks of the withering, and always went towards the direction of heavily affected areas. But after coming to a certain point, the withering of the land is too serious and widespread for us to gauge the direction by judging the severity of the withering.

On the way here, we also encountered a handful of monsters and magical beasts.

[Curse of the Wither].

All the ones we came across shared this trait. Melon and Grace dispatched them with ease.

Every single one of the hostiles is below LV35. But heading to a certain direction will always lead to stronger enemies that exceed LV35.

If we go by my experience with games in my previous life, this could be a lead that will get us closer to the heart of the corruption.

{Party has gained 766 EXP}

{Party Member_Melon is now LV27}

Melon nonchalantly broke a giant mantis in half before my eyes, and we continued to walk through the bog.

After witnessing the adventurers we helped earlier from fighting, I have come to the conclusion that Melon and Grace are abnormally strong.

Did you know? We encountered an even bigger snake. But it was instantly killed in one-shot.

The two of them finished it without losing a single point of HP under ten seconds. How powerful are they, really?

The boggy marsh we are walking through is slowly starting to turn black, which confirmed that we are heading towards the right direction.

More monsters came our way, and they had a noticeably higher level of [Curse of the Wither] status on them.

The environment is taking its toll on the girls, though.

Grace in particular, is having trouble casting spells quickly. The humidity is strong enough to give her a strange debuff like status that lengthens her cast time.

Still, she still casts really quickly despite that, so hopefully, it won't make too much of a difference.

As for Melon, her keen senses has the side effect of being weak against strong stimuli. The unpleasant smell of the black boggy marsh is making her crinkle her nose and placed a perpetual frown on her face.

"... Hm?" I stopped in my tracks.

The two girls also stopped.

What lies before us is a huge rocky wall one would see from a mountain. You could raise your head and look upwards but could not see the top to climb over it.

But according to my [Mini-map], it should have been nothing but the trees and the jungle in front of us.

What's going on? Is my [Mini-map] broken!? Unfathomable!

Could it be... an illusion?

No wait, it's solid!

"Master, is something the matter? Does it have to do with this mountain?"

"How strange... there shouldn't be a mountain here."

Melon and Grace both see the wall in front of us, so it's not just me hallucinating.

But... what concerns me is that the [Mini-map] shows that there are more hostiles beyond the wall, wandering.

There is absolutely no reason this tall wall should be here if that is the case.

I pondered this strange situation while keeping an eye out on the [Mini-map], assessing our surroundings.

There seems to be a gigantic tree inside the rocky wall, which isn't impossible. Is my [Mini-map] actually malfunctioning? No, no, that should be impossible...

 _'Ah! Could it be something like a portal disguised as a wall of stone?'_

I took a few steps back while that thought ran in my head.

And proceeded to dash toward the wall in full speed.

AH F*CK! THAT HURTS!

I rolled on the ground in pain while I cradled my beaten face.

"Master!?" "... Walson!"

"Argh, ah. I'm alright." Very painful.

I reached towards my [Inventory] and took out a chunk of bread which I proceeded to chow down.

The lump on my head gradually disappeared, but the pain remained as I grit my teeth and stood up with a painful expression.

... This is also another ability I have gained from Minecraft. As long as my belly is full, I will be able to regenerate from all kinds of injuries.

The extent of this power has not been tested yet since I am reluctant to harm myself, not like I would really willingly cut my arm off just to satisfy my curiosity.

So, this isn't a portal that we could walk through, my senses have given me pain as a testament of that.

Wait... senses?

Could it be that this is a sort of illusion that fools the senses? Like, I actually didn't bump into anything, but my brain thinks I did?

Speaking of which, it did not feel like I ran into a wall of rocks... More like running into a wall of glass instead.

What is this? A barrier?

"Grace."

"... Walson?"

"Could you take us into the inside of this mountain?"

"... Then get stuck in rocks?"

"If anything bad happens just come back out. You won't die while being stuck in rocks for a few seconds."

"Master, this idea is a bit crazy." Melon objected, but still proceeded to hold onto Grace's wrist.

"... Nn." Grace was silent for a moment, and then took my hand.

In the next instant, my vision went black for a moment, and I was immediately greeted by light and the sight of the dark boggy ground.

Twisting my head backward, I see a thin layer of something that looks like a barrier and looking past it is exactly where we stood just a second ago.

Ain't this barrier a bit too clever!? No one would ever be able to get through this under normal circumstances.

Not only did we have to teleport with Grace, I wouldn't even notice that something was wrong if it wasn't for my [Mini-map].

"... Impeccable prediction, Walson."

"As expected of Master."

"Aah, I told you both that you really shouldn't praise me like that. I will blush." I scratched the back of my head, and then reflexively shot a string of spider web with my left hand.

The spider web struck a [Kirin Horse], which I proceeded to fling towards Melon without really thinking.

"This is..." Melon punched it twice, then kicked it away with a high kick.

Hang on, a [Kirin Horse]?

"Kiuuuuu..." The monster that has the appearance of a horse stood back up after being attacked by Melon and bared its teeth at us.

[Fairy Kirin (Young)_LV47_HP:2842/3542_Status: Curse of the Wither (IX), Frenzy_Title: Fairy Tree Guardian]

Wait a moment, what the heck is this? It looks quite strong! And... that level, it's the highest level I've ever seen on a monster!

And the Combo attack from Melon just now only did less than a thousand.

This isn't good.

"Master, what do we do?"

"... The source, found it." Grace stared intensely in a certain direction.

I followed Grace's gaze and saw a gigantic tree.

... If I were to judge it according to my exprience from my past life, it looks like it is extremely old, one millenia is probably the minimum.

[Ancient Fairy Tree_LV?_HP:276591/9765121_Status: Wither, Curse of the Wither (X)_Title: Ancient Fairy Symbiont]

There are countless black... things twisting and twining on the tree trunk. It's also spreading.

What is this? Is this a monster? No... wait.

#... Hurry ... Leave ... Can't control ...# A voice resounded through my head.

I saw Melon and Grace frown in confusion. It seems like they must have heard it too.

Was that... telepathy?

[Fairy Kirin (Young)_LV48_HP:3678/3678_Status: Curse of the Wither (IX), Frenzy_Title: Fairy Tree Guardian]

[Fairy Kirin (Young)_LV47_HP:3542/3542_Status: Curse of the Wither (IX), Frenzy_Title: Fairy Tree Guardian]

There were two more equine looking Kirins behind the tree, but did not try to attack us.

All three of the Fairy Kirin held madness in their eyes, but do not seem hostile at all. It almost looks like they are being controlled.

... Hmm, judging from all those different kinds of games I played in my past life, someone or something placed a curse on the tree which affected the guardians of the tree as well.

Alright! If the source of all this trouble is the tree, then we just have to settle it here.

If my guess is correct, then that telepathic message must have come from the tree in front of me.

Too bad, Mr. Tree. We won't be heeding your advice. Backing out is not an option I would want to take.

"Melon. Grace." I called out to the girls, and the three Kirins seem to become restless in anticipation.

"Yes?" "?"

"No killing. Don't go for the kill, aim to incapacitate. We're giving them [Milk] afterwards."

#No... please... escape... Kill... Ah... AaAAaAAAaaaHHH!# There came another telepathic message, which I promptly ignored.

"KIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The Kirin that was bound by the sticky webs managed to break free and quickly dashed towards us.

"Yes, Master." "... OK."

I smiled, then shot some sticky webs forward.


	27. Chapter 25: Facing Phantasmal Beasts

... Err, uhm. I can't come up with any opening speech.

Am I supposed to? I mean, we are currently in a battle.

Well, whatever. Let's just get to the battle.

"Kiaa!Kiaa!"

I shot spider webs all around me non-stop, swinging through the air all over the place.

Crazed screeching from the [Kirins] constantly follows behind me, even when I'm in the air.

... These arseholes can freaking fly! Totally didn't expect that.

"kiii..." I heard one of the [Kirins] inhaling, and immediately swapped the glove on my right hand into a [Gale Glove].

[Gale Glove] also shares the simple appearance as my suction gloves, meaning that it looks inconspicuous and ordinary. Basically, I added some wind magic stones to the exterior of the gloves.

The magic stones were bought from the magic stone shop in the village, the one where Grace works. She also gave me a discount, which was quite convenient.

If you inject the stone with some mana or energy, it will send out a strong gush of wind. As for why I'm using it now...

"Hey!" With the blast of air from the stone, I managed to change my course mid-flight, enabling me to dodge the crystal-looking-'breath' attack from the [Kirin] behind me.

Oh My Gawd, what was that!? What kind of breath is that? Why couldn't it have been something obvious like fire, why does it have to be this crystal looking thing?

It appears to be able to afflict the 'Wither' status, since the tree that was hit by it started to blacken and wilt right in front of my eyes.

"Kiaa!?" I pushed all the magical energy that was in the wind magic stone in one go, and ended up right beside the [Kirin].

This time I swapped the [Gale Glove] that was out of juice with a [Mini-dispenser]. Thanks to the tool-bar (or 'belt') from Minecraft, I can quickly switch through the items that I have on my person.

Aside from things I can equip, I can also store ordinary items, and they would end up immediately in my hands if I so desire.

"Sorry in advance!" The [Kirin]'s face was completely plastered with spider web, and heave-ho, I flung onto the equine's back.

It sped up abruptly, trying to shake me off. But too bad~ The spider webs are very sturdy, enough so that not even the destructive Melon could karate-chop it apart.

The webbing covered the entirety of its face, obscuring both of its eyes and rendering it blind. My hands did not stop when it started its wild dash.

After binding the legs, I guided the Kirin towards the ground.

"Kiaaaaaa-" As we approached the ground, the moment it was in range of my "Sphere of Influence" (the farthest distance of which I can place or break a block), I placed a gigantic pad of slime blocks I have [Assembled] in advance.

The slime balls that can be gathered from the blocky slime monsters can be made into slime blocks. I made this while practicing acrobatics, to ensure that I don't die from falling. Plus, we all know how fun it is to play on trampolines, why should I stop myself if I could do it with slime blocks instead?

It's doing its job spectacularly as both the [Kirin] and I fly bounced high into the air. With that opportunity, I silently shot a string to a nearby tree with one hand, while the other was working on binding the [Kirin] tighter.

"... And done." I lept off the tree, landing on the ground.

The [Kirin] is dangling from the tree, helplessly struggling while entangled in my reinforced spider web.

I took out a bottle of [Milk] and shoved it into the [Kirin]'s mouth.

[Fairy Kirin (Young)_LV48_HP:1378/3678_Status: Normal_Title: Fairy Tree Guardian]

Oh Oh! The curse seems to have been lifted.

Minecraft [Milk] is truly a wonderful, all-purpose item.

The [Kirin] has quieted down right after drinking it and seems tired and sleepy as a result.

Turning my gaze towards Grace's direction, I saw a bedraggled [Kirin] looking like a brat dragged a puppy over the beach.

There is also the fact that almost the entirety of its body is buried underground, with just the head poking out through the earth.

Grace is currently whacking it with her wooden staff repeatedly in an effort to 'knock out' the [Kirin], which makes it both a comical and pitiful sight.

Naturally, Grace is standing by the side of the [Kirin]'s head and not in front of it, to prevent the [Kirin] from retaliating with its breath attack. She also repeatedly checks the sturdiness of the earth magic she just used, making sure that the [Kirin] does not escape from its earthen confinement. The [Kirin] has been completely immobilized to the point that it couldn't even turn its head.

Grace was also doing her best to determine the [Kirin]'s wellbeing **while** whacking it. Such as checking its pulse and making certain that it was still breathing despite being confined. Looks like this might take a while.

Hm? Why would we want it unconscious you say? Well, I can't exactly feed them with [Milk] normally when they have gigantic fangs that would not hesitate to bite our heads off.

As for Melon... Ah! Their side feels a lot more upbeat.

We missed most of the fight though, since the moment I turned towards her she was already finishing up.

She cuts through its defenses and lifted the head of the [Kirin] with her left hand, redirecting the breath attack that was aimed towards her.

She flipped her hold, and with a twist, managed to force the [Kirin] make a somersault and tumble to the ground. She then shoved a bottle of [Milk] directly into its mouth while it was disoriented.

... Alright. She still did it despite not knocking it out. I guess it was my bad for making that a requirement. Sorry, Grace.

Grace was soon done with her fight too.

I made sure that there were no more hostiles around us with the [Mini-map], before finally turning to the tree.

Alright now, time to deal with this thing.

If we're talking about status effects... then the best solution on hand would be [Milk].

Oh yes, let us reacknowledge the greatness of [Milk].

#I... can't...# telepathic message again, but I ignored it once more.

I fingered the bottle of [Milk] in my hands for a few moments.

I observed the tree closely and wondered what the hell did all of this black stuff is and where it all came from.

But then I quickly gained an answer to that question once I poured the [Milk].

The earth shook... no, it would be more accurate to say that the entire tree, including the roots, were shaking.

The black corruption that plagued the tree was visibly retreating and disappearing. In the end, it almost looks like it has never been there.

And in that moment, something dark dropped down from the top of the tree.

"Nnn!?" I stared at the round black object on the floor with wide eyes.

It was a skull, a black skull.

The color was something very much akin to the darkest charcoal, the color of something that has all of its life burnt away. There was also this black aura that surrounded it, wavering ominously in the air.

... Of course, how could I have forgotten?

A Wither Skeleton Skull.

The Wither Skeleton that only exists in the Nether, dark black skeleton, inflicting the [Wither] status on whomever it attacks.

Once defeated, it has a low chance of dropping this item.

How the hell did this thing end up here!?

Don't tell me, the whole reason the life of the entire region slowly disappearing was all because of this thing?

This won't do... this won't do at all. Such a dangerous thing must be immediately contained and isolated.

Reaching towards the black skull with my hand, I scooped it into my [Inventory], intending to seal it in there for all eternity.

# - Thank you.# This time, the telepathic message sounded a lot more feminine.

"!? "!?" "...!?" All three of us stood still in shock.

What!? I mean, the hell? All the previous telepathic message had the voice of an old man. The voice we're hearing right now sounds like what a friendly neighborhood lady's voice would be like.

#- My, how rude - I, am Nakula. As of now, am a proud member of the ancient Dryad tribe - My voice was affected by the corruption from earlier- # The tree rustled as if having a mind of its own. Or was it just the wind?

Eeeeeeh!? Did this thing read my mind just now!? Scary! Very scary! I apologize for calling you an old man.

#I - am not scary - I always protected the forest -#

"... Ah, then thank you for your efforts." I paused for a moment. "Lady Dryad, could you please enlighten us on why you've been affected by this... 'corruption'?"

#- I didn't understand - one day I just suddenly was -# The voice of the Dryad said this haltingly, sounding slightly ashamed.

Ah? Eh? Why does she sound like such an airhead?

Did she just forget how it all happened? No, that shouldn't be right.

* * *

I talked with her some more but ultimately did not gain any more clues from the long conversation.

"Were there any of your other friends that have been affected by this corruption?"

#-No - only myself - I do not wish to cause you any more troubles - we are in your debt - savior - I shall save the others on my own -#

So the whole thing is about to end, good. Let's just leave the rest to the Dryad.

I formed some of my own conclusions of this incident and was just getting ready to leave.

It was getting late, the sun was starting to set.

#- Leaving so soon? - Such impatience - savior - you bypassed the barrier - to save me -#

... She is very chatty. I am slowly starting to feel annoyed by her voice as she continuously chatters on.

#- Huh? - Rude - Well then - savior - please accept my gifts - as thanks -#

* * *

 _ **TN: The [Kirin] are mythical creatures in Chinese and East Asian cultures. They are chimerical, looking like they have been mixed with body parts from different animals. The fairy Kirins however are more equine and could be likened to Water Kelpie, mythical fairy creatures also known as the water horse.**_

 _ **Also, the Dryad speaks with various "-" signs in her speech. It is intentional.**_


	28. Chapter 26: The Aftermath

# - I am grateful - As my sign of gratitude - I shall give my blessings - upon you- #

My field of vision was briefly obscured by bright light, but once it faded, I found myself out of the jungle and near the edge of the forest.

"... Are we going home?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, I think everything is fine now. Let's go." I let out a big yawn, man am I tired.

The time of the day is approximately five thirty pm. The color of the sky was turning into a beautiful shade of red and orange as the sun going down.

With the light of the dying sun, our long shadows stretch across the ground, over the fallen leaves and tangled roots of the trees.

"... Ah." Grace seems to have remembered something, swiftly disappearing in a flutter of petals.

# - Eh? - Saviour - why have you returned - # That slightly annoying voice resounded through our heads again. Turns out despite the fact we are pretty far away from her, the dryad can still communicate with us.

A few seconds later, Grace returned with her staff held tightly in her hands.

"... Forgot the staff." She stared at the staff sheepishly.

# -Eh? - My apologies - I forgot - to transport your things - #

It's like going to your friends house, say goodbye, then return just because you forgot your keys. My my, that was quite silly. We just said our farewells a few moments ago, you know?

By the way, I placed dozens of bottles of [Milk] under the ground near the roots of the gigantic tree. If the dryad faces any trouble in the future, she should be able to handle it on her own.

Speaking of which, the dryad gave us something really nice. But let's talk about that later.

"Alright, Grace, let's go." Ignoring the telepathic voice of the dryad, we returned to the secret base.

Aaaah, so many things to do! I have way too many ongoing projects in the secret base right now!

Since we got quite a bit of [Bonemeal], I swiftly began to cultivate more crops.

Instant growth for the win!

Normally, all plants need time to grow, but [Bonemeal] essentially completely matures them in an instant.

This is also applied to the [Malbor] grass, rare healing herb that can be found in this world.

The reason it is rare is because it is difficult to cultivate them, and have a hard time growing on its own in the wild.

But thanks to the [Bonemeal], they mature without fail instantly and produce both [Malbor] and malbor seeds when harvested. Then all I need to do is plant the seeds to repeat the entire process...

I've been producing [Malbor], high rarity healing herb, at my leisure for a long time now, something I doubt many others in this world would be able to boast.

The farming techniques from Minecraft are all revolutionary no matter what perspective you're trying to look at.

By the time I managed to produce enough food to last the Orphanage for two weeks if they ration it, it was already completely dark outside.

... It's a pity that I couldn't just bring meat to the feed the Orphanage, since that would be highly suspicious.

* * *

Now, let's deal with the four adventurers.

Initially, I thought they would react very badly when they realize they were bound by ropes. I mean, waking up in an unfamiliar location while being bound by ropes? Fear would be normal, and panic would not be unreasonable.

But it when I checked on them, it turns out my concern was unneeded as they were having a great time. The four of them despite being tied to each other, are all simply chatting and bantering with each other without care. Their eyes are open in wonderment as they tried to name and identify all the different things I have inside the secret base that is within their line of vision.

Their eyes are open in wonderment as they tried to name and identify all the new and different things I have inside the secret base that is within their line of vision. Like children in a candy store, talking with each other about all the different kinds of candies they've never known about before.

"Say, aren't any of you scared?" I pulled out a chair and sat down right in front of them.

"Oh! It was all a blur back then, didn't think that a kid did it!""Wow, he looks so young." "And pretty cute too."

"Wow, he looks so young.""And pretty cute too."

"And pretty cute too."

"..." Eh? Hey hey, what's up with these four?

Speaking of cute... I think I prefer others compliment how handsome I am instead of how cute I am.

"Ah, sorry. Were you the one who saved us? We are adventurers from the $Eyes fo the Night Cat$ guild. My name is Gabab, and I am [Shieldbearer]." The one who was covering his friends with a big shield - Gabab - spoke.

I wasn't paying too much attention before, but now that I look closely, he's skin color dark, his height is about 180cm, and has an intimidating scar on his face.

His appearance alone would probably scare children to swim in tears. The kind of appearance that people keep their distance with, and might be randomly interrogated by a police when walking down the street.

(To be honest, in my previous life on Earth, I naturally looked intimidating too. I was almost arrested twice for that.)

$Eyes of the Night Cat$, huh? If I remember correctly, it's a small guild in the village of Sadin.

"My name is Walson. I apologize for tying you all up, but better safe than sorry. You are strangers to us after all." I took a glance to the side and saw that Melon was holding onto her Blade Bee tensely.

I met her eyes and gave her a look telling her to relax, which she promptly obeyed.

I stood up from the chair and made my way to the tied adventurers, slowly releasing the bindings on them.

"Thank you so much, I am Kulontan, a [Ranger]. You have my gratitude for saving us, boy." The ranger is noticeably shorter than the shieldbearer, only standing at about 165cm. He has green hair and a fair face, making him quite handsome.

I am just a bit envious of his looks. I want to be handsome too.

"Ah, and my name is Lawrence. Just a [Swordsman]. But that was really close back there, we almost died. Thanks for helping us kid." The blond Lawrence looked very ordinary, the kind of face you would easily lose in the crowd. If judging by appearance alone, I never would have thought he was a swordsman.

Perhaps he is someone that is very easy to get along with.

"Walson, was it? You have my thanks, I am Mirabella." The female [Mage] stood up right after the ropes came off, and bowed down to hold my hands. Her hair is a pretty shade of brown, her height is about 160cm, which is still a lot taller than I am.

I noticed that she has a pair of pointy ears, is she an elf?

Elves as a race have established their own country, and smaller communities of them are also spread out upon our land, so they are not hard to find.

But since our village lives on the border and closer to the wilderness than civilization, the residents are mostly humans or demi-humans. This is the first time I have personally met an elf.

She had to bow to meet my eyes while she started to talk to me.

I wasn't listening since I was being distracted by her impressive bust.

YO! Gigantic Oppai!

... Can I touch them? No! no naughty thoughts!

"Oh, er... Are you well? How are you feeling?" She was the one who only had 11 HP remaining, standing right next to the doorway of death. The first thing I did was shove a bottle of MPOH (β) down her throat to heal her.

MPOH (β), short for [ **M** albor **P** otion **o** f **H** ealing (Beta)], is a special healing potion I created. Compared to the standard [Malbor Potion], my version of the potion is more potent by at least a hundred times. Since my potion is the improved version, I decided to call it Beta, and the original is Alpha.

Just a reminder, we mentioned this a few chapters ago that since [Malbor Potion of Healing (Beta)] is too much of a mouthful, we're calling it MPOH (β) from now on.

"Oh yes, I feel like I was reborn! That was all thanks to you."

"You're welcome, you're welcome." I did my best to avert my eyes and not stare at her breasts, since I can feel the stinging looks that Grace is sending at my back.

* * *

All of us gathered around and talked some more, mainly fishing for information.

They did not question my motives on why I saved them, or ask about any of my secrets, almost like it was not a subject worth mentioning.

Do they trust me? It almost looks like they trust us to a certain degree.

They revealed some information from their perspective, which coincided with most of my predictions.

These are adventurers from the $Eyes of the Night Cat$ guild, dispatched from the village of Sadin to investigate the incident with the land.

Almost no one else was willing to accept the request for help, seems like they were trying to bring out the big-guns and let the stronger adventurers handle this.

The reason that the four of them insisted on trying their luck was because they were short on money...

And thanks to the fact that they had an Elven [Mage] who is very sensitive to the ambient magic, they managed to proceed to the deeper parts of the jungle.

I let out a sigh of relief after hearing that nobody else was trying to investigate. It is fortunate that no more casualties will happen.

"But... I remember that I have broken an arm..." Mirabella suddenly remembered something.

"Eh? Right, I also recall you've broken an arm." "Yeah! I remember that too!" her companions started to make a fuss.

They sure are a lively bunch. The usually silent atmosphere -the three of us here were never super talkative- in the secret base was kicked up a notch since the four of them came here.

It seems like I made a small mistake... fixing broken limbs on a whim isn't something that can be fixed with a potion so easily.

#Master, do we need to... "Silence"... them?# Melon seems to have figured out what I was thinking and sent me a telepathic message.

Hey, hang on! Don't say such scary things so casually!We don't need to kill them to preserve our secrets!

#You're joking, right? Robbing them of their life serves no purpose, and that's cruel! We don't need to kill them to preserve our secrets!# I retorted.

*Sigh*, whatever. The world will find out one way or another, it's not like I am actively keeping it a secret.

"Well, that's because I've been developing advanced healing potions. It's still a prototype, so how is it's effectiveness? What do you all think?"

I took out a bottle of MPOH (β), swirling the red liquid exaggeratingly while I lied through my teeth.

The four adventurers froze and fell silent for a long while.

... Uhm... was that a bad lie? Am I really that bad at lying?

But when I came too, I was subjected to a bear hug by Mirabella.

OOOOOOOHHHHHH! OPPAI! And that neck!

"Wow, Walson you're such a genius! Never thought I would meet someone like you in my lifetime."

"Good job, boy. Those potions - can we please buy a few bottles of those? Please?"

"Still so young..."

Wha? I didn't think they would react that way! This was unexpected, I thought I would be interrogated, or be met with skepticism.

I was enjoying the softness of Mirabella's breast, but the stinging looks that Grace is sending to my back only intensifies.

"... Walson, dinner is ready." Grace looked at me sternly, and announced that with a cold voice.

Ah right~ Grace has also been helping out with the chores lately.

Most of the time she helps by making sandwiches using my special meat. She's trying to develop more variations, and also does her best at learning to use the other appliances in the secret base.

If we compared my special bacon with the loot of today on Grace's mental scale, Grace would probably place the special bacon high up to the sky.

Our loot today is [Millenium Fairy Wood]. We got quite a lot of them today, they weigh about hundred kilos total.

The dryad likes to wag her tongue way too much, but she is very generous. She gave us something that has equal value to 'national treasure' on the market. Extremely rare, and extremely valuable.

Countries would go to war for this kind of thing. It's an amazing material.

She also gave me something else, her [Blessings], or [Divine Protection], depending on who you ask.

If I remember correctly it's called [Blessing of the Ancient Tree], or something similar. But let's investigate what it does in the future.

All of us sat around the table eating dinner, and the adventurers were willing to keep my secrets.

Everything unexpectedly turned out to be a success.

Melon and I escorted the adventurers back to the village, then returned to the secret base.

"Master, I've been meaning to speak to you about something. At the east of the base, I can feel an unfamiliar presence there. It has been there for a week now, should we take a look?"

* * *

 _ **Hmm, I thought it would be a good idea to use $$ to mark guild and organizations names, since they all revolved around money. Like $Merchant Guild$ or $Adventurer's Guild$. But it doesn't look as good as I thought it would be.**_


	29. Chapter 27: A wolf, lost and alone

Melon told me a bit more about the situation, but since it was already night, making it unsafe to venture outside at this time, we decided to shelf this issue until tomorrow.

We've been doing lots of work, making preparations and other labors to ensure our success. And after all these days, we can finally rest easy now.

The following morning, I headed towards the east of the forest, the place where Melon said that the unknown presence would be.

It wasn't difficult to find our new neighbor, as there was a small but noticeable cave. Plus, with the help of the [Mini-map], I managed to gain more information.

The [Mini-map] shows it to be green, which indicates that it is a neutral entity. Seems like it's not an intruder like one of those crazy and corrupted monsters. Probably a magical beast?

I stepped into the small cave and was greeted by the sight of a grievously injured wolf.

Its furry body was the color of gray, with tones of brown. A very common and nonexotic color variation for wolves.

This one is probably one among the thousand followers of the [Mountaing King]. But why is there just one?

Taking a look at its status managed to confirm that it was a lone wolf. I suppose it couldn't be anything but a lone wolf?

[Nakula Wolf_LV9_HP:37/91_Status: Infected Wounds, Hunger, Weak_Title: None]

As I have mentioned before, there are two types of lone wolves. If one of their brethren were too old or were crippled, they would choose to leave the pack since they do not wish to burden their family. They would quietly find a place to embrace their death.

The other type of lone wolf is usually rebels or wolves who think they've grown strong enough to survive on their own.

In this case, the wolf in front of me with a broken leg is counted as the former.

When the wolf saw me, it did not bare its teeth, or growl, or show any signs of hostility at me. It simply continues to stare at me, quietly.

Its eyes are clear and hold no noticeable emotion, and it gives a look that is something like... 'I accept my fate'.

It shifted its silent gaze towards the machete - something I use to cut open paths in the forests - in my hand.

"Grrro..." It gave me a huff and then bared its neck at me by turning its head to the side.

Is... is this guy serious? Does it want me to finish them off?

I admit that I have killed quite a lot of wolves after building my secret base in the mountain. Their meat tastes like beef, and I have eaten plenty of wolf steak. _**(1)**_

But this is the first time I've ever seen it behave this way.

I actually hold an immense amount of respect for the magical wolves in this world.

The willingness to sacrifice themselves for the betterment of their pack, it resonates with something deep in my heart - something as a warrior, that pride.

"Haa... so it was just a lost and lonely wolf." I let out a sigh and sat down to observe the wolf closer.

Its size is about a 120cm, just about the same size as the large dogs that inhabited Earth.

Due to the famine caused by the [Wither Skull], everyone and everything is all short on food, and the wolves are no exception. This wolf, in particular, looks like it has been starved and is thinner than usual. Wolves normally are very lean and lithe creatures, the bulky and gigantic [Mountain King] is an irregular when it comes to size and stature.

Judging from the muscular definition and healthy sheen of its fur, it must have been a young and magnificent hunter. Has it offered most of its food to the pack?

Or perhaps, its because he has been lying here, waiting for death for a whole week that has caused him to be thin?

I took notice of his empty right forefoot - there is a black ugly wound there, and it looks like the limb was wrenched off.

And then I saw a broken paw on the ground in front of him, making me gasp in shock.

 _'Eh!? Did he bit off his own paw!?'_

Speaking of 'he', is this wolf a male or a female? Well, Whatever.

The scene filled me with a feeling of nostalgia as I was reminded of the large dog our family had raised in my previous life on Earth.

With that thought in mind, I took out a bottle of [MPOH(β)] and a bottle of [Milk].

I started to approach the wolf, but it did not shy away even when I hacked off the black rotten forefoot with a swift swing.

Blood flowed from the new injury like a fountain.

"Guh!" He let out an indignant and angry growl, turning its baleful gaze onto me. Its eyes glowed in anger, despair, and discontent as if accusing me of not giving it a merciful death by finishing it quickly.

Chill, dude. I am not trying to prolong your torment on purpose, don't give me that look.

I immediately poured the potions onto the wound.

* * *

Ten minutes later, I returned to the secret base.

Melon walked towards me and gave me a shallow bow to show her respect. (She used to fall to her knees instead... thankfully I broke that habit of hers)

"Good morning, Master." There is a bit of dampness on Melon's body, she must have been training, or just got out of the bath after training.

She must have sensed me as I approached since I did not tell her to meet me here.

... Speaking of which, I managed to confirm that Melon has gained three new skills by using a [Stone Tablet of Appraisal] on her.

They are [Airflow sensitivity], [Vibration sensitivity], and [Enhanced Hearing].

Was it due to practicing with ten spinning iron dummies for six months in a row? She has become extremely sensitive to all kinds of small changes in her surroundings.

... I remember her saying that she always treated those practices as if they were real combat. Holding the thought of "Being hit once equals being dead" all the time as she underwent rigorous training.

I am unsure of how high the level of those skills are since a regular [Tablet of Appraisal] doesn't show such information. Maybe I will find out when I get an upgrade for that.

"Oh, Good morning! Have you eaten breakfast?"

"Master, have you?" Melon directly answered by nailing me with a question.

Melon knows me so well, it's kind of amazing.

"Ah, right. I am about to. Melon, can you prepare an extra portion for Rifle?" I took a step to the sides, and let the creature that was hiding behind my legs to show itself to Melon.

"Auauruuu~" The wolf howled genially as if it was a greeting.

After healing him, he followed me out of the cave of its own accord.

As he continued to walk right by my heels, I was continuously barraged by nostalgia and the desire to adopt a doggy. In the end, I decided to follow my heart and brought him here.

I named him "Rifle", since that was the name of the large dog my family had on Earth.

* * *

(*Sniff*, I smell someone mocking my naming sense again...)

* * *

"Yes, Master." Melon responded, and turned to walk into the secret base.

"... Ah, you're not going to question this?" I brought Rifle along as we kept on walking, slightly bewildered by Melon's lack of reaction.

I already had a long script to explain my actions in mind! Are you really going to rob me of the chance to go on a monologue?

"Do you wish for me to question your actions or your reasons?" Melon opened the various storage chests and rummaged for ingredients silently. After another pregnant pause, she said murmured. "To lose a limb, to lose the will and hope to live, then to suddenly be saved while experiencing despair... by you..."

"We are similar, he and I. We were both taken in by you. And... I apologize. I already knew that it was an injured wolf when I told you about him."

"Oh? So you already investigated before I did?"

"I did. But, I really wanted to see how Master would react and respond." She turned around with a plate of sandwich and placed it in front of me. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything different. Master will always be Master."

I was completely speechless... I mean, is this the moment where someone is supposed to say 'You're Welcome'?

... Oh my...

I am starting to feel just a tad bit embarrassed.

"We'll be in your care, Rifle." Melon knelt and placed a plate full of meat cut into cubes in front of the wolf.

Rifle responded with a happy growl and started to eat with abandon.

Melon stood back up and shot me a smile.

"Well then Master. Since you've tamed a beast, do you wish to draw a beast contract rune?"

Oh! Right! I completely forgot about that!

This world has practiced arts of taming monsters and beasts for a very long time. My mind was completely stuffed with the thought of owning a dog again that I totally forgot about that.

... Correction, I'm owning a wolf this time around.

Beast contract runes are special magic marks that are drawn on the body of a tamed beast or monster.

Despite the rune requiring magic to draw, it is extremely easy, to the point that even an average [Commoner] could do it on their own without assistance so long as they possess the knowledge on how to do it.

With that said, you must wonder how come the streets aren't filled with [Tamers], people who can tame monster and beasts? As for the reason, it would be because that to draw the special magic mark requires several conditions.

As the words suggest, it is a "Contract", and much like the slavery contract between master and slave, there are conditions that need to be fulfilled in order to create a contract between master and beast.

You don't simply snatch a beast off the wilds and expect it to follow you around. The beast (or monster) in question must willingly follow you of their own free will. Otherwise, it is impossible to draw a beast contract rune.

Once the contract is done, the master and the beast are bound together almost like they are in the same "party", as in, they are counted as allied entities, but not exactly occupy a position in a party.

Also, once the contract is drawn, the natural growth of the beast or monster is halted. They only grow when the master grows. Which is why you can't get a dragon egg, then expect to get a super strong dragon a few years later if you're not super strong yourself.

I remembered coming across a book that wrote about this topic in the Orphanage.

The title of the book was "Easy Guide for First-Time Beast Tamers". It's a dusty old tome that no one ever bothered to touch or read since beast taming is definitely not as easy as it sounds.

If I were to make a comparison, it's like finding a "How to be a successful president on your very first try" kind of book in a bookstore. Would any regular person really pay attention to such a book?

I swallowed the last bite of my breakfast and stood to leave the secret base.

"Take care of things for a bit, Melon." With that said, I sprinted out in a blinding run, already out of the room in a blink.

Aaaah. I am so happy with my speed now. I am incredibly fast.

It's all thanks to the [Blessing of the Ancient Tree] that was given to me by the Dryad. It's a very great thing.

When the Dryad took note that I was nothing but a lowly [Commoner], she bestowed the blessing on me.

And then, my racial status was changed.

I used to be [Human], but now I am an [Ancient Tree - Human]. Whatever that might mean.

It sounds really silly, but the bonuses I gained are really great. Not only have my stats increased, I have also gained the extra potential to grow stronger now - as in, my stats have a higher cap than before.

Also, I heard that it was possible for me to learn actual skills in the future.

I CAN FINALLY LEARN SKILLS OF MY OWN NOW AHAHAHAHAHA!

... It was a long timer later in the future that I realized that the last person that was given such a blessing was a hero of old, from ages past.

This is a powerful blessing that can only be given once per millennium, and to be given such a blessing also means that I was given with a burden of equal value.

But all of that was in the future. For now, I basked in the bliss of ignorance.

* * *

(1): Please do not eat wolf meat in real life. They taste absolutely awful, not worth the effort to kill and then cook. This is a magical beast kind of wolf, so the meat is different.


	30. Chapter 28: The Daily Life of Melon

**Sorry for the long delay!**

 **Also, new cover image by our artist!**

* * *

Six years have gone by since the time my Master has taken me under his wings.

And on the day of my coming-of-age, I also received gifts from Grace and Walson. I was ecstatic. It made me really, really happy. I felt like I was someone worthy of love, someone worthy of friendship.

Someone worthy to be with Master.

Those are feelings I've never had before. Even when I make mistakes, Master treats me very well, he would console and comfort me, he is simply that kind.

I am so glad... I am so glad that I could be a slave under my Master. I never knew such bliss was possible. Is... is any of this real? I am sometimes struck by fear, that everything up until now would be just a dream... and when I wake up, everything will disappear.

Perhaps I have already died, missing a leg, in that cave surrounded by wolves, and I am simply hallucinating, having a wonderful dream right before I die.

Would the dream disperse the moment I take off the slave collar that is around my neck?

... I, I don't want to think further on this.

* * *

My name is Melon. That is the name given to me by my Master, Walson.

My full name is Melon Liszar, and according to Master, my last name is homophonic and relates to lizards in a different language.

I currently live in my Master;s secret base deep in the mountains, surrounded by forests and bamboos.

My daily routine is very simple. I wake up at dawn and take the finished potions that were left on the [Brewing Stand] every night. Those potions are left to be brewed in the night and when I wake in the morning, they are organized with all the other potions.

I eat a simple breakfast after making sure the potions are secured. Then I would go do some warm-up exercise and get ready to train for an hour in the training room.

After that, I would place new ingredients on the [Brewing Stand] to make more batches of potions, and go see if any traps outside in the wilderness have caught any prey.

Oh, and starting from last week, I also had feeding Rifle added into my list of tasks now.

Rifle is a very ordinary gray wolf, but he and I met Walson under very similar circumstances.

Speaking of which, after Master has drawn the monster taming rune, Rifle seems to be growing bigger due to Master's growth.

Master hasn't returned to the base for a while. Perhaps he has been busy with all the ruckus that was the dark incident in the jungle? I bet he would be very surprised if he sees how big Rifle is now.

Anyway, checking the traps and resetting them usually takes a while, but I always managed to get back before noon.

Getting the previous batch of potions off the [Brewing Stand], I once again placed more ingredients into it to make another batch.

Now is the time I try to make lunch - and practice my cooking in the process.

This is usually the time when Master comes into the secret base. And he somehow always manages to make lunch for everyone in the blink of an eye. I try to do my best to finish the preparations for lunch right before he enters.

It would be embarrassing for a servant - who is supposed to make the meal - to end up being served by their master simply because the servant is too slow.

Despite the fact that the huge skill gap between my Master and I, I still try my best to cook.

Master always makes incredibly delicious food, and he always processes food in very special ways.

If Master didn't come for lunch, then I clean the base from top to bottom and create another batch of potions.

After that, I train until I drop (literally). After totally exhausting myself, I took out the various books that Master keeps inside the secret base.

I am not really fluent at reading yet... I can barely understand the messages written on the public bulletin boards. Reading books is extremely difficult for me.

If there is anything that I didn't understand, I write notes and ask Master for explanations later.

Then back to the training room, once more training until I exhaust myself.

Master's special creations are everywhere in the training room, and they help make me stronger.

The harder I hit them, the faster they move and harder they hit back. I constantly grow stronger and exceed my limit with the help of Master's creation.

There are many of them... so I basically have to fight many opponents that are equal groundings to me in terms of strength.

I can vaguely comprehend that my talents lie in going on the offensive, so I train to be strong enough to defeat enemies in a burst of strength while being fast enough to dodge any retaliations.

I always tell myself that I must not be hit - not even once - since it would signify my defeat.

With those thoughts in mind... I have started noticing that I'm a lot faster now. Or is that just my imagination?

Those... [Spinning Iron Dummies] are just as fast as I am. So maybe I'm just overthinking this?

Then I take another bath - and practice cooking once it approaches dinner time.

With a book in my hand, I anticipate the arrival of my Master as I alternate between reading the book and gazing outside.

If he still didn't come, it means that I have to make the last batch of potions of the day and go to sleep.

That's how I have lived my life so far, and might probably be same for the rest of my life...

Combat training has been going on for six years so far. I am no longer the same helpless girl that Master has rescued.

I have this strange feeling - this feeling of power - hidden inside me. But I am certain that I am very lacking in actual real combat experience. So I'm uncertain whether if it's true or not.

The enemies in the surrounding areas are not really challenging at all, except for [Arkon] and his pack of wolves, which Master instructed that I avoid them as much as I can.

... It seems like I am only useful in combat, yet I am still not strong enough to protect my Master.

Master is really strong.

I am his slave, yet I feel so useless... I feel unworthy of having such a great Master.

Although I know that Master would never abandon me, I still feel a bit insecure and want to please him as much as I can, to ensure I can stay by his side.

... To be truthful, this is starting to look less like a "Master and Slave" relationship. Perhaps a "Man and his secret lover"...?

No no no. I shouldn't have such thoughts... I would be overstepping the boundaries of a slave.

After all, shouldn't Grace be Master's lover?

She really likes Master, but he doesn't seem to react to her affections.

Grace is important to Master, and he always pays a lot of attention towards her.

Normally one would never suspect them to be anything but close friends, but if enough attention was given, finding clues about deeper feelings is very easy.

Master is somewhat of a worrywart. He has been going nuts over the Orphanage and the Famine this year.

But we are extremely short on [Bonemeal]... Master is unable to harvest more food for the orphans, and that is making Master displeased.

Maybe... I could do something to please him?

If I remember correctly, there should be a lot of magical beats and skeletal monsters in the [Nakula Jungle]...


	31. Chapter 29: Unmatched Power

I have been spending most of my time disposing of the dead adventures we have encountered in the jungle. Finding information about their identities, if they have any families, any relatives still being alive, etc. Such a task wouldn't be too hard in the modern world of Earth. But in this time and age it was extremely difficult, took me a lot of time to find what I needed. It's already nighttime.

I had a chat with Grace in the Orphanage just before I went to bed, and the moment my head hits the pillow...

[Party has gained 2357 EXP]

[Party has gained 2971 EXP]

[Party has gained 785 EXP]

[Party has gained 1243 EXP]

[Party has gained 748 EXP]

[Party has gained 3321 EXP]

...

...

...

I cannot close my mouth, my jaws have dropped to the ground in astonishment.

If anyone else was around, they would have thought I saw a ghost or something.

A continuous stream of messages ran through my head, filling my tired brain with more and more [Party has gained XXXX EXP].

Come one... it's nighttime already. What the hell is going on?

The point is, I just met Grace a few moments ago. So who is fighting right now? Is it Melon?

WHAT IS SHE DOING!?

Judging from the high number of EXP that is coming in, she is probably facing against foes that are LV30 or above. The frequency of the messages also indicates that she is fighting an entire horde's worth of stuff.

#...Melon?# It was Grace that broke the silence first.

#What is going on?# I sent a telepathic message right afterward.

[Party Member - Melon - is now LV28]

#Don't worry about me, I have things under control. Please go back to your rest, Grace, Walson.# Melon gave us her curt and short reply, she did not sound like she was nervous or in distress.

Melon says "Go back to sleep" so blatantly... Who can go back to sleep in a time like this?

"... Walson, I checked. Melon isn't inside the base."

Flower petals scattered throughout my vision and Grace appeared in my room.

I wanted to send another telepathic message to Melon and make sure, but if Melon isn't in the base... then that must mean she is fighting outside. Better not distract her.

But where could she have gone to?

Then, the slew of EXP messages suddenly stopped.

And Melon suddenly had a drop in her HP.

[Party has gained 17356 EXP]

HOLY COW!? What the heck did she kill off just now?

Another long stream of [Party has gained XXXX EXP] slammed into my head.

"... Melon, reckless." Grace shook her head slightly, but her tone had zero ounces of worry in it.

... Don't tell me Melon is going all "Dynasty Warrior"/"Sengoku Musou", sweeping through monsters left and right...?

Melon's training consists of fighting against ten spinning iron dummies at once. Which probably means she has ample amount of experience when it comes to fighting multiple foes at once...

Hang on, is she doing this with her **bare hands**!?

I hope Melon will be alright... No, nevermind. There is no way she will lose. I can't conjure up an image of a defeated Melon.

The HP she has lost has been recovered, which means she must have taken a few bottles of potion with her. That's good to know and very reassuring.

"... She's being reckless. But we need not worry." Grace said to me.

"Did she say something to you? Do you understand why she's doing this?" I asked

"... Melon is doing it for Walson's sake."

Huh? She is doing all this for me?

"Ah?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"..." But Grace decided to stay quiet.

Is this a secret between girls, or something like that? If that's the case, then I guess I shouldn't pry.

Anyway, back to Melon.

If she is fighting monsters that around LV30, then she should be fine. After our stroll in the jungle, I know she could handle those well enough on her own.

But I still can't shake this dread in my heart. Am I being overprotective?

The girls, both of them, are growing so splendidly. They... are no longer what they used to be.

No, in fact. It could be said that they are stronger than I am now.

Melon's senses have become stronger and can easily sense an approaching enemy, making her more prepared for ambushes. Her speed, power, and reflex are several notches better than the average adventures/

When I observed her training with the spinning iron dummies, I could barely see her movement at all, she leaves nothing but a blurring image behind.

It wouldn't be over-exaggerating if I said that Melon is quick as a flash now.

... But I have got a blessing from the Dryad. Perhaps I could close the gap in the future? Well, whatever, doesn't matter.

Grace is right. There is no need for me to worry.

"... By the way, Grace. Are you sure a lone girl barging into a boy's room is appropriate?"

The other children who used to share a room with me have all 'graduated' from the Orphanage, and currently I am the only resident of this room.

"... Um..." Grace blushed slightly from my teasing.

She is wearing a white silky dress, shimmering under the moonlight, one would be able to see the slight feminine curves on her body.

This is one of my gifts that I gave her. She didn't want to accept it at first, but I told her she could see it as a celebratory gift for being able to work in the magic stone shop.

Her black, star-like hair is reflecting the moon's light, her slightly blushing pink face...

Oh my, so cute.

"... If it's Walson, then it's fine."

Eh ?

Is she trying to indicate something?

"So you want to sleep with me tonight?" And this is just outright flirting on my part...

...

...

...

Grace responded with a kick in the balls.

"... No... not until fifteen..." she disappeared in a swarm of petals after that.

... Ow... I kind of deserved that, didn't I?

...But please, don't hit the balls next time, ow...


	32. Chapter 30: Playing with Enchanting

The next morning, I went to the graves of the nameless adventurers and placed a few tributes to the dead before going to the secret base.

Oh, Oh, by the way. After a lengthy investigation on the dead adventurers, I have sort of kicked up a big fuss in the village.

They were a group of people that have went missing twenty-three years ago. And it turns out no relatives were around, so their belongings are now lawfully mine.

... Not like I needed any of their stuff. I just placed buried them along with whatever remained of their bodies.

I hope they can rest in peace.

I might not be very religious, but our Orphanage is basically a Grella-Vantinom church. Burying the dead is simply a sign of respect from my part.

I swiftly went to the secret base, only to find Melon soaked in blood, from top to bottom.

"Good morning Master." She greeted me while her entire body was covered in blood. This would have been funny if it wasn't so creepy.

"Melon, are you alright?"

"I am well. All the blood came from my enemies. I came back in a hurry, so I haven't had a chance to clean up yet."

Melon has a big [Chest] strapped onto her back, and it is also covered completely in blood. What sort of blood bath did she go through last night!?

[Melon_LV29_HP:1634/2058_Status:{Slave}_Title: Walson's Slave]

Ehhhhhh!? She increased her level by two in a single night!?

I am now LV29, and Grace is LV28... Oh, wait, both of us gained a level last night after Melon went out hunting.

So we basically mooched off Melon's extra EXP.

But leveling up so quickly is still pretty ridiculous.

We both have similar levels, but my HP is only a fourth of her total... why did it have to be like this?

"Master, here." Melon undid the ropes and placed the bloody [Chest] onto the ground.

I opened it, and found that it was fully stocked with bones, and meat of all kind.

[Amanda Meat], [Armored Cheetah Meat], [Darkmantle Minotaur Meat]... Huh?

"DARKMANTLE MINOTAUR!?" I did a double take and gazed at Melon with an astonished expression.

I remember its supposed to be an "A Rank" monster elimination request. And it... uh... usually requires multiple groups to successfully complete it. Are you telling me that Melon just killed this thing all on her own!?

"Yes Master. It took some time, and I unfortunately took a hit from it. There is still much that I have to learn."

... The simple fact that you can KILL this thing makes you better than a majority of adventurers right now you know...? I don't think this is about learning any more.

If my sources aren't wrong, this is supposed to be a LV43 monster!

I have no clue whether or not if that's true, but its rumored to be as strong as [Arkon] that wolf that is known as the [Mountain King].

I took a glance at the [Bee Blade] that is strapped on Melon. The handle shows that it's magical energy has been exhausted.

... So she probably used that thing to kill it... if it's with Melon's skill levels, it wouldn't be impossible...

"My goodness..." I took out the [Minotaur's Gigantic Axe] from the [Chest]. It's a regular battle axe, but the weight is quite heavy.

"I hope these bones can make enough [Bonemeal] for Master." Melon said.

"Hn?" For me?

"Master... will this... help?" Melon looks at me with a worried expression.

It seems like my facial expression has been misinterpreted as anger. I need to quickly resolve this misunderstanding.

"Melon, you have been quite reckless." Inwardly, I was slightly happy, but I am very displeased.

"Uh!?"

"You went into the [Nakula Jungle] at night all on your own, didn't you?" I still need to scold her for doing something so dangerous.

"If it were anyone else, this would have been no different than suicide! Do you know how dangerous things could have been?"

"... Yes, Master..." Melon's head hangs low like someone rained on her parade.

Ehhhh? I only spoke two sentences and she's already shrunk into herself.

Melon right now looks extremely pitiful. She is covered in blood, and with that face and demeanor, an outsider would have thought she was tortured.

Oh okay fine... her pouty face still looks cute.

"But Melon, you did very well. This is going to make a big difference." Melon is so cute. Maybe I should give her a hug?

I opened my arms and embraced her.

Ooooooooooooh. Her boobs are squashed on my chest. Oooooooooh! This is the first time I have ever touched her excellent figure so intimately.

Hm? Pervert? If I can do this, then I don't mind being a pervert!

Melon's curves are perfect. And her two melon-like boobs are pressed onto my body, her body is soft but I can feel the tense muscles hidden underneath her six-pack... does anyone think that girls with six-packs are sexy?

Her thin waist feels so good!

"M-M-M-M-Master!?"

"With these bones, I can take it easy for a while now. Thank you, Melon."

"Uuuuh... I'm just doing my job..." Melon is getting a little bit speechless.

"Ah, no. You've been doing such a good job all these years, I'm sorry, I might have to trouble you in the future as well."

"Of course..."

"Next time you want to do something like this, you better tell me, or I will start panicking. It's not good if you do it all alone."

... If I keep hugging her, my little friend between the legs is going to get excited. No, no, we can't have that.

I let go of her, and finally took notice of her blushing face.

Ah, Oh, so cute. I want to kiss her!

"...Yes, Master..."

Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait, calmdowncalmdowncalmdown.

Phew... okay, much better. Anyway, back to business.

"You have used up all your potions haven't you? Your health isn't full."

"Ah... yes, you're right."

"Go take a few potions, take a bath and get a change of clothes. I've got some enhancements I would like to try with you."

Melon with her bloody chainmail looks exactly like an experienced adventurer that has gone through hell and back. Fearsome and awe-inspiring.

But blood will decrease the durability of equipment. I have to clean them quickly.

After sending Melon into the bathroom, I took the chainmail and soaked them in water.

And then I opened the [Chest] that has all the enchanted books in it.

Last night I had an idea on making Melon stronger by enchanting her directly.

Currently from what I have tested, enchanted books work on all 'non-living' things. Which means that enchantments cannot be placed on living creatures.

But... Melon is a Lizard-kin. And her hands, feet, and tail are covered with scales.

What if... I enchanted her scales?

Two books of [Fire Aspect I], [Knockback II], [Sharpness IV], making six of them total. And one of [Projectile Protection] and [Protection].

I have decided to add these enchantments onto the scales that are on Melon's hands.

Two of [Feather Falling IV] and [Frost Walker], for her feet.

Oh right, [Frost Walker] is a very special enchantment that came from Minecraft, but I only have two of them at the moment. But I decided to use all of them to make Melon stronger.

When walking on water, the surface will freeze, preventing you from sinking into it.

This is probably a very great thing in real life!

Also, if I add an additional [Feather Falling I] onto her boots, would the effect stack and make her even lighter?

I haven't forgotten about the protection. [Fire Aspect] sets the target on fire, and if Melon intends to attack up close there is a chance that it might hurt her too. So I added a [Fire Protection] onto the chainmail.

* * *

I didn't know doing these enchantments would make Melon a legend in the future. But that's a story for another time.

* * *

And let's see... Rifle... whoa, what happened? How did he get so big? He is 2.3 metres long and 1.5 meters tall... does this size still make him count as a wolf? He is only slightly smaller than [Arkon]!


	33. Chapter 31: The Nun, Priest, and Slave

Recently, some very odd things are happening in the Orphanage.

Odd things they might be, they are in reality more beneficial than harmful.

Our Orphanage easily runs out of food, and this fact is even more prominent during a bad

With the famine still unresolved, the situation is even more dire than usual. Children who have already 'graduated' from the Orphanage sometimes bring what food they can gather to us as donations. But it's still far from enough.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been an emergency. But unexpectedly, we never seem to quite run out of food.

It is truly strange to find your stock of food perpetually remaining in the state of "We'll run out of food in a week" for months on end.

How did I realize something strange is going on? I grew suspicious and started to periodically count out exactly how much food we have every night.

Regardless of how much food was consumed on one day, the next day the same number of food would magically appear to fill the gap.

Could it be... that the Goddess has heard our plight and gave us her blessing?

Could this be possible? I have been a nun for decades, and never have I seen or heard anything like this before.

I talked to uncle Marbon about my findings. And he suggested that we patrol the granary every night to try and find out what's going on.

After a few nights, uncle Marbon with his keen sense of smell has concluded that someone always sneaks into the granary at night - that someone is Walson.

I never expected the mysterious and elusive Walson to be the one behind this strange occurrence.

We only found out because of uncle Marbon's superior sense of smell has a demi-human. I never noticed anything amiss when it was my turn to patrol the granary.

Perhaps this elusive child has some special abilities that can hide him from others?

Could a [Commoner] truly have such abilities...?

No, perhaps such a possibility is too out of character. He must have a secret that he does not want to share.

After he has turned thirteen and started community service, it became even more difficult to see him.

He always chooses the strangest occupations to study, and never seems to focus on any particular skill set. This worries me, but I never had the chance to speak with him.

But in any case... how did he obtain so much food?

During this famine, no one in the village has food to spare.

I talked with uncle Marbon some more.

He too has started to take notice of Walson's strange activities.

Once again we followed Walson's lingering scent, but we were surprised to find out that the child is sneaking into the mountains every day.

I tried to follow him, but Walson is fast beyond comprehension, I always lose sight of him.

In the end, we had to once again rely on uncle Marbon's nose to find out more.

Turns out, Walson went deep into the woods.

Yes, the most dangerous part of the woods. Places where strong monsters and beasts inhabit.

Uncle Marbon did not wish to venture further without ample preparations, so he came back and relayed this information to me.

I was completely shocked. What in the world is that child going there on his own!?

But uncle Marbon was far from finished. He told me that Walson's scent goes directly into the depths of a bamboo forest that is filled with the scent of the [Mountain King].

A phantasmal beast that can level a city all on its own, an S-rank monster, a gigantic golden wolf.

Uncle Marbon did not see the [Mountain King] this time, but the strong power and the scent are unmistakable.

There is no one that could equal the likes of the [Mountain King] in this region.

Walson, what is he doing?

Both uncle Marbon and I started to trek into the depth of the mountains. We were immediately attacked on our way.

But I am LV33 while uncle Marbon is LV45, so we dispatched them with ease. Aside from healing, I also know a bit of fire magic to protect myself. And uncle Marbon used to be a mercenary famous for his skills in smashing foes with his holy staff.

We also tried our best to avoid battles, so it took us half the day to arrive at our destination: the bamboo forest.

A combination such as ours is usually graded as a B-rank adventurers party, and on our way here we managed to fight with ease, but...

We did not meet the [Mountain King] as we have expected.

Instead, we saw a few wooden houses littered around the place.

The garden and the yard have all been cleaned, not a speck of dust can be found. So someone must be inhabiting them...

Does Walson have something to do with this?

I was lost in thoughts when uncle Marbon barked out a shout of warning.

"Watch out!"

I quickly lost consciousness to the darkness when I felt something hit me in the back of my neck...

* * *

Within the secret base.

Maany opened her eyes and found herself to be sitting with her legs bound and hands tied behind her back. Uncle Marbon who is still unconscious was also tied with her.

"... You are...?" Maany questioned the lizard-kin girl that has her back faced towards her.

The girl appeared to be fifteen years old and is currently operating some sort of strange mechanism.

"Melon." the girl replied curtly.

"Ah... Ms. Melon... Where is this?"

"You have intruded upon my Master's territory. We must wait for Master to return and judge you."

"Who is your Master?"

"..." The girl remained silent to that question.

After a few more inquiries with no replies, we know that asking more questions would not grant us any answers.

Maany felt some movement from behind her, it seems like uncle Marbon has come to.

He seems dissatisfied with the bindings and is struggling to get out of them.

"Apologies, but please sleep for a while!" With a burst of magical power, he broke free of the bindings.

Grabbing the wooden stick that isn't too far away from him, he attacked the defenseless back of the lizard-kin girl.

Holy hammer, a skill that uses holy magic to increase the destructive power of blunt weaponry. It was known as the bloodless judgment of God back in the day.

But the stick was easily neutralized as Melon's lizard tail curled around it.

"... I have been careless. I still have much to learn." She mumbled, and then we a swipe of her tail, threw uncle Marbon into the air. "Please wait patiently until Master returns."

The tail striked at the still air-borne priest, and he lost conscious once more.

Maany was struck speechless with what she saw.

Powerful. This girl is very powerful.

She wasn't quite sure how strong she was while she was unconscious, but to see the girl in action with her own eyes...

The girl is still very young, how has she attained such strength? Maany grew uneasy.

"I will refrain from harming you until Master announces his judgment." Melon tried to placate the uneasy nun with reassurances.

Melon bound the priest once more and sat him down in the corner of the room.

The silence stretched through the atmosphere, filling the room with a tense quietness.

Maany began to grow curious to whom this "Master".

And then, petals began to flutter in her vision.

"... Ah, sister Maany." a familiar voice said.

"!?"

Why is Grace here!? Maany thought to herself.

Also, where did she come from?

"Acquaintances?" Melon asked Grace

"... My teacher." Grace replied. "... Why is she here?"

"Grace! You..." Maany was utterly confused.

How did Grace end up in such a dangerous place?

"... Can we, undo the bindings on her?" Grace asked.

"... Fine, but not the male. He seems aggressive." Melon took a moment to release Maany.

"... Hm." Grace took out a tea pot from who-knows-where and gestured Maany to take a seat, pouring a cup of tea.

Maany sat on the chair and dumbly stared at the cup of hot tea in her hands, it is emanating an unfamilier smell.

... Hm, it tastes delicious.

"... You... Grace, are you the Master?" Maany asked with tensed shoulders.

"... No, I am not. Wait for Walson." Grace just shook her head.

Maany wanted to question her some more, but Melon suddenly stopped whatever she was doing and raised her head to the air.

"Master has returned."

"... Walson." Grace suddenly blushed as she gazed out the window.

Following Grace's gaze, Maany too looked at the window.

A gigantic wolf filled her vision.

Gray and brown fur, lean compact muscles with power hidden beneath it.

Maany gasped in shock. "The Mountain King..."

"No, no no. The [Arkon] is much bigger than Rifle." The boy who rode on the back of the wolf jumped to the ground.

It's Walson.


	34. Chapter 32: Going Wwrrooom in the forest

The experimental enchantments on Melon's scales was a success.

If Melon fights with her bare fist, she would be able to set enemies on fire, just like that fire fist guy from 'you-know-which' series.

The activation of the enchantments requires an emphasis of "Attack". Which means, she can still function like a regular person during everyday life and not worry about setting things on fire by accident.

Also, she wears the gloves that Grace gave her for her birthday for the majority of the time, preventing the enchantments from activating. It's almost acting almost like a power restrictor.

I suppose the gloves could do with a few enchantments as well. Let's add [Protection] and [Projectile Protection] onto it.

The left glove will have [Protection], while the right glove will have [Projectile Protection].

[Projectile Protection] is a very powerful enchantment now since it can negate arrows, magic bullets, fire balls, all sorts of projectile attacks.

We did some extensive testing, Grace volunteered by using her magic, we started with [Razor Wind] at first but as we continued testing we came to the conclusion that almost anything that is counted as a projectile can be blocked.

Arrows will lose their 'punch' and fall powerlessly to the ground.

However, we found out that stuff like gigantic fire balls can only be partially blocked, as Melon would still be scorched by the heated air that follows in its wake.

And also that the glove in question must make contact with the projectile in order to work. Wide area attacks cannot be blocked whatsoever.

It's still a pretty decent enchantment in general, useful when going up against archers and magicians that use the small scale and pin point attacks.

I wonder what the faces of Melon's enemies will be like when they realize she can block all their projectile attacks with her bare hands? Extreme shock perhaps? Reminds me of the guy with the "imagine breaker". The reactions should be comical enough to make photos of their faces worthwhile, sadly there aren't any cameras.

Anyway, that's about it for the enchanting experiment with Melon.

As of now, I am speeding through the forest - oh, correction - I am speeding through the forest while riding a wolf.

Rifle is really fast. Like... OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH THE SPEED! GOTTA GO FAST!

Normally it would be impossible to be so fast in wooded areas. I mean, just try to imagine riding a car through trees. It's a natural obstacle course.

But that is not the case for riding on the back of Rifle. It's like riding a smart, auto-pilot, self-directing heavy motorcycle.

I could tell him the destination, and he would automatically take the route that **I** am most familiar with. Not the route that Rifle is familiar with.

It feels amazing! And it's super convenient. I feel that people back on Earth really should abandon their cars and convert to wolf riding. It will look cool, and save lots of fossil fuels and decreases pollution in the process.

Not only that, it's fast enough to rival a heavy motorcycle too.

A lupine motor bike in a different world. Hmm, has a nice ring to it.

"Hey..." I pulled my bow all the way back, aiming for the [Miltow Cow] in the distant.

Rifle automatically cooperated by suddenly slowing down, which was the also the instant that I let the arrow loose.

*Pa-crack!* was the loud sound of wood breaking when the arrow pierced through the [Miltow Cow's] head and blew a hole in the tree behind it.

Woah, what power.

This is bow is created by yours truly, using carefully chosen materials.

For one, the wood is from the [Millennium Fairy Wood] and the bow string is created by combining five very durable golden spider strings that were dropped by rare spider mobs.

The enchantments were, of course, [Power IV], [Flame I], [Knockback I], and [Infinity].

[Power] increases the power, obviously... [Flame] makes them turn into flaming arrows, [Knockback] adds a shock wave to the arrows, and the same could be said about melee weapons, they generate a shockwave that pushes opponents away.

Finally, comes [Infinity].

In my personal opinion, this one was one of the most over powered enchantments back in Minecraft.

Though now that real life physics is affecting everything, a quiver is required for it to work. So long as there is at least one arrow remaining in the quiver, you will never run out of arrows.

With all these enchantments combined, it makes the bow almost like an artillery cannon...

The appearance of this bow is very deceiving. The color is a simple shade of gray that is unique to the [Millenium Fairy Wood], and a golden string. I didn't add any fancy decorations.

I've decided to name this long bow [Apollo].

* * *

Don't laugh at my naming sense... I'm gonna cry at this rate.

* * *

This bow is my treasure, and there will never be another one like it - until I make another one that is.

Oh, by the way, using [Millenium Fairy Wood] has a nice bonus. It slowly regenerates your HP as long as you're holding it. Although I guess it probably won't be able to fix amputated limbs, it's still a powerful effect by its own right.

Maybe I should make some accessories for Melon and Grace with [Millenium Fairy Wood]. There is still plenty of the material in stock.

This bow only took out 10% of the stock.

Rifle quickly dashed to the downed [Miltow Cow] and I started to disassemble the body, taking the materials that would be useful for me.

All that was left were the innards and organs of the cow, which I disposed of by summoning up vines from the ground, pulling them into the earth and covering them up.

Originally I wanted to let Rifle feast on the organs, but after Rifle started eating our food, he has become very picky...

As for the vines from the ground, it's a new special ability of mine.

My new racial status: [Ancient Tree - Human], actually puts me on similar grounds to the Dryad back in the Nakula Jungle. We are 'technically' family now, but I am more like a follower that shares familial/blood bonds. I have access to some special skills now.

Namely, the [Illusory Barrier] and wood/nature elemental spells.

As the name suggests, the [Illusory Barrier] is a barrier. It's what the Dryad is using to protect and isolate herself, and the appearance of the barrier can be changed and customized to one's desire.

Currently, the only known way to breach this barrier is through teleportation. Which means that it is a very secure line of defense since teleportation magic is such a difficult thing to learn.

I can't make a gigantic barrier like the Dryad, but can safely create a barrier that is the size of a small house.

Then, wood/nature magic is basically the ability to manipulate plant growths through the use of mana.

Under normal circumstances, such magic is nothing impressive. But in truth, it's because wood magic is very rare and not much is known about it.

By having the plants absorb the mana from the earth, one can hasten their growth. And growth aside, 'hastening' is counted as time magic. So in short, it's a branch of time magic that specifically targets plants.

This makes wood/nature magic more complicated. Don't think it's just making weeds grow faster and underestimate its power!

...Mmm, but it can only speed up the process of growth, not create plants out of thin air. I can only manipulate what is already there, or in case I want something specific, I will a t least need a seed.

If that's the case, then I could just stick to using [Bonemeal]. I am much more familiar with its usage anyway.

Plus, absorbing mana from the earth is very dangerous. Remember how the Famine came about? It's due to the lack of mana that created an imbalance and caused this famine. The Dryad was absorbing as much mana as she could to fight off the [Wither] effects and caused the land of the entire region to go infertile.

An additional ability I gained after becoming an [Ancient Tree - Human] is that I can communicate with plants now.

Yes, you heard it right. I can talk to plants.

But in all honesty, not a lot of the plants can respond very well. Only trees, which are naturally older than weeds and grass, allows communication. Other plant life only gives off strange babbling sounds - baby noises like "Yee" "Yah" - that is mostly incomprehensible.

And. They. Are. Super. Noisy.

Being surrounded by grass and weeds is like walking into a room full of screaming babies.

The chatty and annoying Dryad is actually really quiet in comparison, Yikes.

"Grrrrowruu..." Rifle stops and emits a deep throated growl.

Sensing Rifle's unease, I took a look at the [Mini-map].

... At Twelve o'clock's direction, [Arkon] is one hundred miles away from us.

He isn't moving, but he must have sensed us too.

"Hrrroouuuuu..."

"Hey, don't bother him." I patted Rifle's furry neck.

Rifle has been really sensitive when it comes to [Arkon]'s scent. He always acts up like this, and sometimes I even get the feeling that Rifle really wants to challenge the [Mountain King].

Well, Rifle has grown stronger for sure... but...

After bonding with me, his racial status has also changed into [Ancient Tree Follower - Wolf]. And as a result, his growth rate is better than just being a normal wolf. He also has access to wood/nature magic and the [Illusory Barrier], but neither abilities are very impressive.

The barrier Rifle can erect is even smaller than mine, it's only one square meter large. And his wood magic only makes grass and weed grow faster, unable to affect the growth of trees.

He could help with the crops though, accelerating their growth and ending up being a farmer of a wolf. **(*1)**

Normally, wolves can't use magic. So the fact that despite having control over such a directly unoffensive branch of magic is impressive by itself. But I still think that Rifle can't fight [Arkon] at all. It often feels like that if I don't restrain him, he will have a go with the [Mountain King].

Rifle, please don't do it.

With all these thoughts in mind, I arrived at the secret base while riding on Rifle's back.

There were two uninvited guests waiting for me. Color me surprised.

* * *

 **(*1): Holo from Spice and Wolf, anyone?**


	35. Chapter 33: Secret discovered Oh noes111

I pondered for a long time.

To think that Father Marbon and Sister Maany managed to get into this place...

Dead men tell no secrets... you know? So that's normally my first choice. But I really don't want to kill them for this.

Waaaaaah! Marbon seems to be in a super foul mood!

"I'm sorry!"

In the end, I chose to kneel on the ground begging for forgiveness.

I told them mostly everything that has happened so far. (Except the fact that I was reincarnated from another world)

Such as how I had a bunch of ideas and wanted to make them into a reality, developing new technology, as well as how I created this secret base when I was seven, and how I met Melon, etc.

Though I did omit that I was the one who fixed the withering problem deep in the Nakula Jungle, restoring the vitality of the land as a result, as well as my change of racial status.

Then I told about how I met Rifle, healed him out of the kindness of my heart and he ended up tagging along. That's about it.

"... You've been a quite reckless boy, it seems." Marbon smacked my head with a palm, then proceeded to roughly rub it.

Words I used to chide Melon have been returned to me. Talk about karma...

"Ooh..." I let out a low grunt but felt -and understood- his concern, allowing it to warm my heart.

Melon simply stood at the side, silent as a stone.

"T-t-t-to actually be able to converse with the [Mountain King]...! Similar actions are simply unheard of!" Maany stuttered as she exclaimed her surprise.

"And to think that such a young child is but a [Commoner]... Simply thinking about your future potential makes me excited. I wonder what other amazing feats will you accomplish?"

"Oh it's nothing, I'm not that great..." It's true! I mean, I'm nothing special and I definitely don't like drawing attention... I hope I don't draw too much attention in the future.

"But I must say, you've made us quite worried."

"Oh... Uh... sorry..."

Ah, how could I forget? The two of them are almost like my parents. I am in the Orphanage and constantly move around them.

Putting things into their perspective, having someone like me around would definitely be worrisome.

A home... huh?

It's the first time since my reincarnation that I have seriously thought about it.

The Orphanage... is my home.

"But there is something that we must let you know." Marbon suddenly knelt down on the ground as he said so.

"On the behalf of the Orphanage and all its residents, I thank you all."

"Thank you, Walson." And this time Maany followed suit with the kneeling.

Uh... Ah... How am I supposed to respond when two adults kneel before me?

I hurriedly asked them to rise and was then bear-hugged by Maany's.

Her breasts are huge! OPPAI! OPPAI! OPPAI!

(Still, she's an adult. Perving out on her might not be appropriate)

They gave us looks of disbelief when we mentioned our levels.

That shocked expression on their faces was absolutely de-li-cious.

But then...

"Oh, by the way, Walson. Who taught you how to be a sugar daddy and keep their secret lover up in the mountains?" Marbon said this in a joking tone, but with an evil smirk that screams *You're not getting away that easily* on his face.

AAAAAAHHHHH, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO MENTION THAT OF ALL THINGS!?

"Huh? I - I'm not Master's girlfriend..." Melon is denying it. GOOD JOB MELON!

"Hmph. Walson, casanova." Grace who was mostly silent suddenly popped up.

"Oh, so we have a little witness here..." No no no, Father Marbon this is not what it looks like! GRACE WHY DID YOU SELL ME OUT!? NO! DON'T TELL HIM ABOUT ***THAT*** INCIDENT!

* * *

And then?

I got harshly lectured for three hours.

...

...

...

...

...

...

Spring has ended, Summer is coming.

I am fourteen and nine months old. I am almost turning fifteen.

(End Chapter)

* * *

 _TN: HoGa wrote a very strange ending this time. Which means yes, that was precisely how the chapter ended. Just so you guys know._


	36. Chapter 34: Two Years Later (1)

**Sorry for the delay, I'm not dead. School was hectic, and thankfully I passed all my subjects *confetti***

 **HoGa has threatened to kick my ass if I delayed this any further, so here you go.**

* * *

After becoming an [Ancient Tree - Human], my growth rate as a [Commoner] has been increased to a certain extent. My mana in particular, has finally crossed the threshold of a novice magician! It was from then on that I finally started to earnestly learn about magic, something I've dreamed of.

It's been two years, or... almost two years. I am almost fifteen years old now.

It's hard to say whether these two years were long or short. Those years allowed me to learn the basics of magic, not only did I learn proper incantation, the general process of chanting a spell - I also learned about magic circles. As of now, I am putting a lot of effort into studying magical magic circles.

magic circles, in short, are chants and incantations written into words, symbols, or other written forms. That... might be a bit too simplistic for an explanation. But in any case, writing a magic circle is nothing like copying texts from a book. It also involves the color of the magical letters, the magical energy channeled into it, the formation of words, etc.

As for the principles behind incantation... that is something that we shall touch on another point. It is a very complex topic, not something that can be easily defined or explained in simple sentences. Magic, just like I expected, is something great and profound.

Anyway, a completed magic circle looks like a symmetrical circle formed by words (in most cases), and that is exactly what I am trying to create.

I opened my eyes, holding my head in an attempt to lessen my headache.

"Master? Master? Are you alright?" I was using Melon's soft legs as a pillow, and the first thing that entered my view was Melon's worried gaze.

"Aahh, nothing, nothing. Fatigue caused by excessive use of mana, like usual." I rubbed my forehead and sat up straight, sweeping my eyes over my messy workshop.

The ground was filled with sawdust, empty potion bottles here and there, as well as a piece of paper - almost like papyrus, actually - made from the Dryad's bark. The paper was filled to the brim with runes, complicated and hardly understood, that formed into a floral pattern.

I picked up the brush that has dropped to the ground, the brush still had remaining traces of illustrious gleaming ink - made from charcoal of [Millenium Fairy Wood].

... I couldn't help but feel depressed. Despite the fact that I am now an [Ancient Tree - Human], a [Commoner] is still a [Commoner]. I don't have the required mana to cast or recreate any awesome magic.

When the heck will I be able to complete this magic circle!? At this rate, I won't be finishing it even with the constant drinking of [Mana Replenishing Potions].

[Mana Replenishing Potions] are really harmful, as they forcibly convert mental energy into mana, like squeezing the juice out of a fruit. Overusage of the potion might result in a decrease of maximum mana, and damage you mentally.

You might be asking why I am not using the [Brewing Stand] to create my own version of the potion, right? Well, I did. But turns out it only increased the effectiveness of forceful conversion, the fact that it deals mental damage has not been changed, only made it even more damaging.

I reluctantly pulled out another bottle of [Mana Replenishing Potion (Beta)], as the name implies, it is one modified by my [Brewing Stand]. But Melon snatched it out of my hands as I was about to drink it.

"Master, you really should take a break." Melon's expression was extremely serious and strict. With such a gaze focused on my person, I had no choice but allow Melon to push me onto a sofa as she pleased.

Then Melon stepped into the kitchen, and now the only person within the workshop is me.

I grabbed another staff that was placed on the table and started to play with it.

This particular staff is owned by Mirabelle. Under the pretense of 'maintenance and repair', I borrowed it to study it for my own ends.

Last time after I saved the four adventurers and sent them back to their guild, I've become inseparable with the guild known as Eyes of the Night Cat

Ever since then, they frequently come up the mountains to have me repair their stuff. I took the chance to study Mirabelle's staff whenever I could.

Her staff is unbreakable under normal circumstances, but I still do some simple maintenance for it. As for the reason why it won't break, it's because her staff has been [Elvenized].

All elves possess a skill that can turn a piece of equipment into a soul-bound object. However, this skill can only be used once. Therefore, all elves possess at least one item that has been [Elvenized].

Once the item has been [Elvenized], it becomes a growth equipment that can grow stronger with the wielder. And so long as the wielder is alive, the equipment will not break. Even if damaged, it will automatically repair itself.

[Elvenized] items are treated as part of an elf - treated like a limb or extension of one's being. It is extremely treasured, and seldom found on the open market, as they are often heirlooms or relics.

Right, back to the Guild subject. As of now, I usually take my monster drops or some of my products to the guild and let them sell it for me.

Currently, the guild known as Eyes of the Night Cat is a small guild with approximately twenty members. More than half of the members are away on long-term missions, be it trading, serving in the military, or exploring dungeons.

The guild master is a tough-looking middleaged lizard-kin. He appears rough but is actually a big softie. Unlike Melon, he appears more like a lizard than a human.

... Why not call the guild Eyes of the Lizard? Oh, well, that's because the guild master has many cats, and is a well renown cat lover.

Normally there are only a few people lounging around, drinking tea, chatting with one another, the whole place exudes a casual and leisure atmosphere.

I looked at my hand - a ring with a symbol of a black cat worn on my finger. This ring is called a [Family Ring], and once you wear it, you can access a sort of bulletin board that allows you to leave messages. Despite the fact that there might be delays due to distance and other factors, it is still a very valuable asset. Such rings are hard to produce and are quite expensive in this time and age. Only core members of a big guild are usually seen wearing such rings.

Somehow in one way or another, I became a member of the guild without really knowing it...

Ahem, back to the staff.

After studying Mirabelle's staff intensively, I started to create a staff for Grace. After all, I made a promise that I was going to give her one as a gift for her coming-of-age.

All staves require a "central magic circle" in its design, and that is what I am trying to draw up right now... Hehehe, this isn't just a simple magic circle. This is something special that can only be created with knowledge of my previous life as well as my understanding of magic! You want to know more about it? Sorry, but I am going to leave you guys hanging for now.

"Master, please have some afternoon tea." Melon walked out of the kitchen with a plate of sandwiches and a pot of hot tea. Gracefully placing it on top of the tea table, and backing away submissively.

Such mannerisms befitting a maid... I have no idea where she learned this from.

Melon is already seventeen, and these two years have treated her nicely. Her tall beautiful figure, her elegant and humble bearings, pretty red hair done up in a high pony-tail, delicate facial features. The lizard-like parts only give her an air of mystery... All in all, nothing but the figure of one mature but charismatic young women.

Not only that; her prowess in battle has grown even stronger. She is now LV35, surpassing my LV33 and Grace's LV34.

Indeed, she has been going crazy (musou) in the jungles all on her own... after witnessing it by my own to eyes, I was starting to wonder who is the actual monster now.

And I must mention something! She has some passive skills with very frighteningly high skill levels at her disposal!

[Martial Arts LV169], [Heightened Hearing LV148], [Vibration Detection LV103]... I know for a fact that practicing on dummies will not yield EXP, but will increase skill mastery... but to see her skill levels at the third digits is absolutely mind-boggling.

Under normal criteria, having a skill that is higher than your actual LV by five is already a sign of dedication.

And er... according to the [Tablet], each level of [Martial Arts] increases her HP by 2%, attack, defense, and speed by 1%. Yup, once you do the math you'll realize that Melon's stats have at least been doubled.

"Excuse me Master, but will Ms. Grace join us for the meal?" I waved Melon over, indicating that she can sit and eat together with me, but she declined, answering with a question of her own instead.

"... How in the nether would I know?" I scowled, gulping down the sandwich in one go.

*Sigh*, something troublesome has happened, and it's affecting my performance. Also making me feel conflicting emotions while making the staff.

But it's okay, it's probably my fault for being too petty.

After all, Grace took her new friends to my secret base, doing a carpet survey and almost finding things that I didn't want the public to know, then disappearing without a trace...

I AM NOT FEELING BETRAYED! NOT AT ALL!

Not... at all...

Not at all, heh, who am I kidding.


	37. Chapter 34: Two Years Later (2)

Within the vast Nakula Jungle, the leaves were starting to brown as the footsteps of autumn approaches.

On the ground with dried fallen leaves, was also littered with white bones and a few not-completely-decomposed skulls. Coupled with the rusty stench blood in the air, makes it a very chilling sight.

In the center of the fallen leaves, a humongous creature with grey fur and four thick limbs was letting out big snores that vibrate its entire muscle packed body. With big tusks protruding out of the face that held a slight likeness to humans.

But on the top of a tree, there stood a silhouette that did not fit into this hellish picture.

She, a young budding lady, tall and dazzling, her looks makes it hard for others to believe she is only fifteen years of age.

175cm tall, delicate and refined features, her purple eyes beneath glasses with black frames. Her waist-long hair sways in the wind, a black coat hugs her body as she holds a magic tome in one hand, and a simple rustic wooden staff in the other.

"…ＯＯＯＯ，ＯＯ，ＯＯＯＯＯ，ＯＯＯＯＯＯＯＯ，ＯＯＯ，ＯＯＯＯ— [Falling Swords of Light!]" She opened her mouth and used ten seconds to complete the incantation for a spell.

At her command, countless shining blades of light appeared in the air, spinning, their position organized and spun upon their descent.

…

A roar pierced through the tranquil air, and several birds flew out of the woods into the skies in fear.

The roar was but a beginning, as what follows was the crash and sound of falling trees, making other numerous animals flee in fright, almost falling over each other in their flight.

"... So, this is how magic of the outside world functions. Curious." In the scattering leaves and broken wood, Grace casually dismisses the angry roar from behind her as insignificant, with the staff now on her back, simply leafing through the magic tome with a blank expression and nodding her head.

The village of Saddin is good and all, but the variety of spells that one could learn are simply too limited in her opinion. Fireballs, wind blades, shadow lances, all are spells that can no longer satisfy her.

But this magic tome from the royal capital is different. Despite only containing information on basic spells, the spells contain more flair and are more stylish than what she has learned before. It is as she thought, the outside world must contain even more special magics.

As she was pondering to herself, the fist of a giant gorilla sped towards her direction, only to slam into a bundle of flower petals. Behind the giant gorilla, there were many fallen tree, and Grace sat on one of the vacant tree stumps, coldly observing the injuries she has inflicted on the backside of the gorilla.

"..." It seems the spell doesn't pack enough power. Her target was still acting very lively.

But Grace, on second thought, contributed it to the fact that it's probably due to her lack-luster affinity towards Light.

The gorilla is quite the powerful beast. With its sharp senses, it quickly realized that it has been tricked. It had no idea on how the "itty bitty" target had avoided its attack, but that doesn't affect it from attempting to stomp Grace with its big feet.

Once again teleporting behind the gorilla, Grace tucked the magic tome into her [Belt Satchel] without a care, and took up her [Beginner's Staff] for the second time.

This commotion created by the gorilla has disturbed too many beings as it is. From the far mountains came a majestic wolf howl, notifying Grace that she must quicken her actions. She closed her eyes in concentration.

...Hm, let me think. If I want to use Walson's method to recreate that spell, then I first need to declare these variables, then construct a loop, as well as change the magical energy that fuels the spell from Light into Dark in order to increase it's power... This spell shall be called...

「… sword，fall ，dark ，✚✚✚—"Falling Swords of Lasting Darkness!"」

High-speed chanting in a different style yields the result of countless gigantic shadowy blades raining to the ground.

A few minutes passed and the gigantic golden wolf arrived and looked at chunks of meat on the ground… that "formerly" was a gigantic gorilla; and Grace standing right next to them with a blank expression.

"… I give you meat; you give me EXP and pelt." Grace raised her head nonchalantly, looking into the upside-down-almond-shaped eyes of the Mountain King, then proceeded to point at the… stuff… on the ground, then pointed towards her own back.

Unlike before where there was only a wooden staff, now her back also has a roll of fresh, high-quality pelt.

"Ooouu!" The mountain king gave an angry huff that sent out a plume of hot air, seemingly unsatisfied by her answer.

"… I know, it's Arkon's territory. But, I found it first." Grace fearlessly tried to bargain with it.

For the last two years, [Elite] type of monsters causing a commotion is not unusual. The mountain king has been challenged by other creatures many times, and this particular gorilla was no exception. But it seems like the unfortunate gorilla faced its doom by the hands of Grace before meeting the mountain king.

… According to Walson, this also made the [Nakula Jungle]'s danger rate go up by a whole tier. Although it all just boils down to the redistribution of territory after the withering incident happened, and things should calm down after a few years.

Grace and the mountain king did not stay at a stalemate for too long. After half an hour of bargaining, as well as a copious amount of bribery through cured meat, the mountain king let out a howl and left with displeasure. Then, and only then, did Grace finally relax.

She teleported once more, this time, to the top of a giant tree. Gazing at the small village of Saddin from afar, and the endlessly stretching horizon from this high vantage point.

She is almost fifteen years old now. Fifteen years. It means that she will have to leave the Orphanage, leave the village of Saddin, go to the capital city, and go to the Royal Academy of Magic.

The world outside the village is oh so vast. What will she encounter? And how many unknown magics are there for herself to learn?

She grew excited just thinking about these possibilities, but… but…

At that point in time, Walson… would you still be willing to let me walk with you?

* * *

 **AN: News from HoGa! He is negotiating with other translators, trying to speed up the progress, since relying on me alone wasn't a good idea all the time. So...**

 **1\. Hopefully, the english versions (as in, updates here in ff dot net and on AO3) will become a consistent weekly update. With new translators helping along. But** **as we are all translator hobbyists, don't expect too much.**

 **2\. There will be differences in the English and Chinese versions, both cultural differences as well as a few plot differences. Mostly because the English version follows the plot of the hard-book cover, while the Chinese are the web-novel version. Don't worry, the differences are not major. Mostly just revisions from HoGa.**

 **3\. Answering one particular review: HoGa will like to state that the original chinese version is still on-going, with around 190 chapters. He estimates that it's around half of the entire planned story.**

 **4\. New websites will become available soon. Facebook pages, AO3 updates, Twitter/Tumblr (we haven't decided which one yet). You can find more information (and most importantly, pictures!) on this story once those websites are done.**

 **PS: According to HoGa, he wants to recruit more translators! If any of you are interested, please go to the AO3 version of this fanfic and find the link to a "Google Form" test where we will want you to take to make sure you're up to snuff.**


	38. Chapter 34: Two Years Later (3)

**TN: This chapter is translated by our new translator: Joe Lee! (And proof read by Minaly22 with minor edits)**

 **Please welcome him with a round of applause. He did such a good job.**

 **We will now include concept arts, or pictures of the story in the AO3 version (since FF dot net doesn't support links). If anyone is curious, you're all welcome to check it out.**

 **Also, from HoGa himself.**

 **"Concept arts!**

 **Pictures!**

 **Additional Content!**

 **All in AO3!**

 **Go check it out!" - HoGa**

* * *

In a humble ally in Saddin, Purple petals suddenly flew around in the air, and Grace walked out from it.

"Oh, that's Grace!" "It's Grace!"

As Grace turned her head to the childish cries, she found some cute kids running toward her excitedly. One of them even jump-tackled her - she had become so tall that the jump was necessary.

This unexpected "assault" made Grace chuckle blushingly.

"Grace, what are you doing here? Nobody else's around!" asked the leading, biggest kid, a.k.a. the girl who was hanging around Grace's waist like a koala, staring at Grace.

"...I ... am hiding a treasure," Grace replied while trying hard to move forward with the kid hugging her. "...Who's in for a treasure hunt?"

And suddenly all the kids rushed into the ally to look for a hidden treasure.

Relieved of over-energetic kids, Grace was about to walk away. However, on a second thought, she took out her staff and gently pointed the ground, making a hole appear. Grace laid a tusk she found earlier in the forest, and put the dirt back upon it.

Before she left, she also drew a glowing cross on the pile of dirt as a hint, in case the children couldn't find it.

As Grace walked down the streets, working villagers kindly greeted her, and some young men eyed her up. The former were replied with nods, while the latter was ignored.

Since Grace turned 13, she had been working in the village for two years, and had hence become the most famous girl, and more or less "Miss Saddin": independent, brilliant, kind-hearted, "magically" talented. Her black hair was no longer an anomaly - instead, a symbol of privilege and unreachability.

People kept turning attention to Grace until she reached her destination, the magic stone store. At the front door stood a well-dressed butler with white hair and goatee. "Ms. Grace, m'lord is waiting for you," said the butler, opening the wooden door.

…

…

In the store, the walls of the hall were occupied by classic six-layer shelves, filled up with a variety of precious stones. An exotic comforting smell was released from a turquoise incense stick burning at the glass counter.

Behind the counter stood a smiling young man, whose face was white and clean with pronounced features: his black eyes were mysterious and attractive; the thick eyebrows and the aquiline nose showed toughness but not sternness, and his blond hair covered half of his forehead.

His formal black silk outfit indicated his status; the ring worn on his middle finger bore a delicate emblem of a hawk; his body always presented an aligned posture.

His name was Neolla Aifnis. He was the eldest son of the Duke whose land included the insignificant Village of Saddin.

Therefore he was the future ruler of this place and was also...

... the person who took care of this store, where Grace worked, for the past few months.

"...Neolla," said Grace to the young nobleman ...

"So here you come, Grace. This is the 'Lifesaver' you asked for." Neolla put an elliptical jewel in front of Grace as he spoke.

Grace was surprised by the good news. She carefully picked up the "Lifesaver" and examined it, feeling lucky that she received it just in time.

This precious magic stone had been the main purpose for her to work here.

In a "Lunar Crystal" mine, a kind of rare item which is called "Lunar Core" could be found from time to time.

A "Lunar Core" is also known as "Lifesaver" because after being placed under a continuous, homogeneous source of magic power for one month, a special reaction gives it the ability to cancel any deadly damage for one time.

However, besides the difficulty to find it, to produce homogeneous magic power, it requires exactly ONE mage to work non-stop for thirty days, which is impossible for someone with an ordinary MP. In conclusion, "Lifesavers" are as rare as hen's teeth.

The stone in Grace's hand has a gray color, which implied that it has not been activated, but it did not matter for Grace, as she found that she was just fine with that.

"...Thank you, ...about the price ...," said Grace as she put the Lifesaver into her [belt satchel].

"Don't worry about that," Neolla stopped Grace with a warm smile. "You can have it as a gift. By the way, I'm going back home in three days," he continued, "Please come with me, and we can go to the capital later when the Academy starts. My family will be most happy to meet you. Also, I can look for an advanced mage to help you activate the Lifesaver ..."

"... Thank you for your kind suggestion," Grace interrupted, "...but I can take care of my trip myself. In addition..." Grace took out the pelt from her back and spread it on the counter. "...I am ready to pay."

Neolla was shocked and did not know how to react. In contrast, the butler rushed to the counter and stared at the fur.

"The chest pelt of a Tyrant Ape!?" cried the butler.

"...Yes, exactly. It's the one which survived the last hunting," said Grace, her mood turning blue because of the aforementioned hunts. Since "that incident" happened, it had been impossible for Grace to face Walson. Walson had not talked to her either.

"Th-this would worth d-d-double the... No, maybe triple..." said the butler in a shivering tone. He failed to evaluate it precisely, but Grace didn't care about it.

She just wanted to make sure that the pelt was enough for paying.

"...I also want to return these books... you can have them back now."

Grace took out several magic books, which included "Falling Swords of Light", and stacked them on the counter.

"...The extra from the pelt should also cover the book..."

Hearing this, Neolla ceased his silence.

"Grace, somehow ... it seems that you don't want to accept my help," said Neolla coldly, "Of course, you can keep the books, they were meant as gifts. Take your time to study them."

"...I don't like owing anybody." Grace did not mention how she finished learning from them in a few days. "...And my contract here ended yesterday... Please keep my unpaid salary as a part of the rent for the books."

Neolla, whose face contorted, unable to find a proper facial expression, went into silence again.

"...Well, I have to go," said Grace, "...Good bye, My Lord." Grace took a bow and swiftly turned around.

Everything here is over, so...it's time to talk to Walson...

Going to capital means drifting apart from Walson... No way! I don't want! Especially without saying good-bye.

At least...I must fix the relationship. I must apologize to Walson for "that incident"...

With this thought, Grace trotted toward the exit, but she was stopped at the door by Neolla's words.

"Gr... Ms. Grace."

"...?"

"I've just heard that recently bandits showed up around this village. Please be careful."

"... Thank you. I will."

* * *

 **HoGa wants to stress the fact that the people working on the art are amazing, and he appreciates their efforts.**

 **Please take a look at the art in AO3!**

 **Please take a look at the art in AO3!**

 **Please take a look at the art in AO3!**


	39. Chapter 35: When someone's on your mind

**This chapter is translated by Magical Kangaroo, and edited by Minaly22.**

 **Please enjoy.**

* * *

"Master... Are you alright?" When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Melon's worried face, and my head was on her lap.

Ahh- I drained all my mana and fainted again. A strong headache hit me as the side effect of abusing the mana potion.

[Commoners] have really low stats, and despite me using [Meditatraining] to improve my mana, and me being a [Vassal of The Forest], I'm still at this level...

By the way, [Meditatraining] is just a random name, it's execution is to drain all of my mana as much as possible to train my stats.

As we all know, 'better start when you're young!' So I started training like this since I was 5, this is why I have more mana than other [Commoners]. If they have 100, then I have 1000. ***(1)**

But, this is actually not a lot.

In this country, the weakest of the weak [Beginner Mage] has about 900 mana, in other words. Despite having impressive reserves for a commoner, I'm still just a slightly uncommon [Commoner].

But on the other hand, I had Grace train using this method since a young age, which had extraordinary results and made her reservoirs really scary.

How scary, you ask? On the levels of something like Godzilla, I think.

"...Ahh." I moaned in pain. My headache is absolutely killing me.

Even though this is pushing myself too much, I had to get this done quickly. This is going to be my gift for Grace, and she is going to leave soon.

"It's lunchtime, Master, do you want something to eat?" Said Melon, kneeling. I saw her move a box of mana potions away from me out of the corner of my eyes.

"Melon, those potions are the last batch..."

*Crash!* Before I could finish, I saw her tail sway to the side, in a heavy, smashing motion...

"I'm sorry, Master, I accidentally ruined the potions, please discipline me." Melon said with a straight face. The potions are now nothing more than glass shards on the floor.

"... Whatever, can I lie down a bit more?" I closed my eyes. Well, I could always do things later.

"Of course, Master." Melon caressed my head... I don't know why, but I want to snuggle with her for now.

"Erm...Master...what about Grace..."

"Let her be, it's time for the both of you to choose your future paths." I replied, not really wanting to continue with the subject.

"But, Master has been messing around these days."

"Yeah... Right, Melon, I have something to ask you."

"What is it?"

"I'll leave this place once I'm 15, what do you plan on doing then?"

"Master... This can't be..." She gains a panicked expression

"Do you want the collar to go? With your current level, you can become very powerful..." Becoming an [Adventurer] or joining the army shouldn't be too hard for her.

"No." I was cut off suddenly. "I want to keep serving Master."

"...Really? You could become an [Adventurer], or go to the capital and join the army."

"...Are you abandoning me?" She suddenly teared up.

"Ehh!? No, no no no. I'm not abandoning you, I just wanted to ask... On a side note, do you not have any interest in freedom?"

"Then choosing to keep serving Master, is my freedom." She answered without hesitation.

"So you like me that much." I started to laugh, teasing her.

But hearing this, Melon straightened up her pose and stared at me.

From the position of the lap pillow, I saw Melon's cheeks turn red, but her eyes were still full of determination.

Whoa, she looks so cute.

"... Saying this might be overstepping my responsibilities as a slave... but Master, I like you a lot."

Ehh...Ehh!?

"Ahh?"

Wait a second, am I being confessed to right now?

"Yes, Master, that kind of like." Melon started to get embarrassed. "So I wanted to stay by your side and keep serving Master... is that not okay?"

Ahh... to think, she was with me for a long time, is she the kind of slave that offers both body and soul?

After hearing what she said, I wanted to make Melon wear a maid costume.

"Thank you." I sat up and patted Melon's head.

"If Master wants to be a merchant, let me be your guard." Melon looked at the hand on top of her head and laughed.

Seeing Melon's smile, my gloomy emotions were gone completely.

Alright! If someone wants to tag along, then let's make 'that thing' bigger. I walked up to the desk, picked up the pen, and started to modify the blueprint.

I thought I was going to become a lone merchant, so I didn't want to make the carriage too big, but since Melon wants to come too, I had to make it bigger.

How about I just make it as big as I can, in case other people need a ride in the future... let me think, I can just use the [Chest] for storing goods, so I'll leave enough space for 10 [Chests].

It shouldn't be too heavy... will Rifle be able to pull it?

That's right, I'm going to let Rifle pull the carriage. Buying a horse and adding it as a pet is too troublesome, Rifle alone should suffice for companionship.

Looking at the modified blueprint, I took out different kinds of materials. Since I don't have mana to make more progress on the wand, let's make something that doesn't require mana.

The carriage is box-shaped with doors on the side. Other than the doors, you can get in through the driver's seat...it's 5 meters long, 3 meters wide, 2 meters tall, and the appearance is based on a caravan...

With the construction skills from Minecraft, structuring the prototype was quick, but in order to apply more things, I drilled the bottom of the carriage.

First, the suspension and the bearing.

I've gotten used to the luxurious car rides from the past life, so this is really important. Usually, this involves forging, but it could be taken care of with the Minecraft crafting skill and the [Furnace].

It took me 3 hours to install everything. Melon was in the training room, the sound of her training with the [Training Dummy] served as ambience.

Ok then, with this, a comfy carriage is done.

But! This is going to be used by me, so I can't just leave it like this.

Considering the total weight and Rifle's physical limits, I have to make it so that it can move without Rifle's help.

So, I put switches self-made from gears, redstone, and magic. It's too complicated, so I don't want to elaborate.

The power source is redstone, so there isn't a problem with running out of energy, and I can control it with a lever, by the way, there's even an armed arsenal!

It's technology not from this world, so normally, I'll just let Rifle pull it, even though letting a monster pull a carriage is already showing off.

The lever is usually hidden under the driver's seat, it can be pulled out directly when needed, and the carriage will be able to dash after Rifle jumps on top... Ok! It's practically finished!

I crawled out from the bottom of the carriage and discovered that 5 hours have passed... I forget about the time whenever I get really absorbed in making things, regardless of which life I live.

"...Walson." Until a soft-spoken voice appeared, I had not noticed someone was next to me.

While I wasn't paying attention, Grace has come here... it has been a long time since she visited, after that incident.

"Is there anything I can help?" I spoke.

My voice was far colder than I thought... What am I doing? I can't talk to Grace with this attitude.

"...Walson, are you in a bad mood?"

In a bad mood? Before you arrived, my mood was sort of good, but now it's complicated.

Of course, I can't say that out loud.

"No. Why suddenly come up here? It's dinner time right now, want something to eat?" I get ready to go to the kitchen.

"...Am I not allowed to come here without a reason?" Grace didn't answer me, but asked a weird question instead.

Hearing this, I stopped walking.

Am I not allowed to come here without a reason? You dare ask this question?

"Of course not, if your _friends_ don't mind. You can come and go whenever you like, treat this place as your private garden. It's okay!" I turned around and answered Grace, and despite keeping a smile on my face, my tone was cold.

"...No, it's not like that... I..." Grace seemed nervous, but to me, she was just feeling guilty.

I know, I know that Grace has become more outgoing during these two years, she even has a huge group of fans back on the village, and I know that the landlord's son is clearly after her.

The landlord's son is experienced, handsome, and has a good reputation, plus having the rare talent for [Magic Swordsman], I should be happy for Grace.

But? The incident 3 weeks ago is freaking impossible for me to forget.

At that time, I went to the Dryad's tree for refining the [Core Magic Circle] of the staff, but after I spent a whole night on that, dragginy my tired body along, I returned to the secret base to see an unbelievable sight.

A group of mercenaries is searching the outside of the secret base, an enraged Rifle is being attacked, and Grace? She is the one that led the mercenaries here, and the landlord's son is holding her hand while saying things like "protecting her", etc.

It would cause a big ruckus if anything in the secret base was known by the public; and for a weak being like me, this can only lead to my death!

She knew that!

SHE KNEW THAT!

If it wasn't for them attracting the mountain king by being too loud, I think I would already be taken away by now!

"...That was a misunderstanding, I-I don't..."

"Am I wrong? Oh, right, it's now enough treating this place as a private garden, how about this, what's his name... Your boyfriend... Oh, Neolla, right? I'll just give you this place, how about that? Oh, you don't have to care about our feelings, no, why am I saying this? It's not like you cared about that anyway!"

Yeah, if you cared, why only decide to visit me after three weeks?

At this point, I realized that I just said something very serious, which I had never done before... I... never talked this way.

"...Walson, thinks of me like that?"

"...Well, I shouldn't blame you, sorry for saying all of that." Watching Grace like this, I deflated. I... can't really stay angry when she has that look.

It's no use arguing anyway, as it has already happened.

I thought Grace would be angry at me and leave, but she stood straight - her height makes her tower over me - instead and stared down into my eyes.

So this is a height advantage... My height was still stuck at 160cm, a head shorter than Grace.

"...If that's how Walson thinks of me, then Walson needs to take me to the Capital." Grace's eyes were filled anger and stubbornness.

"Ahh?" I wasn't able to react.

"...Walson made me unable to get to the Capital... I still need to go to the Academy, Walson needs to take me there."

I finally understood what Grace was saying, she wants me to take her to the Royal Academy.

Of course, the next term starts in one and a half month, to make it in time, Grace needs to depart early.

So, it's before the coming-of-age ceremony...

"...The shop owner can't take me there because of personal reasons, so Walson must take me there." Grace added, "... We need to leave as soon as possible, or I can't see the shop owner again."

I almost choked when I heard this, a-are you treating me as an errand boy right now?

...Whatever, it's not like I haven't experienced this in the past life.

The staff for Grace hasn't been finished anyway, and I haven't decided where and what to trade, maybe it's better to go to the Capital.

I started to calculate every risk that would bring, but there's no reason to not go.

"M-Master, something happened in the village!" Just then, Melon runs in, panicking.

* * *

 **(1): A Mushoku Tensei reference, where emptying mana reserve at an early age helps expanding it.**

 **PS: HoGa was a bit concerned with the lack of views on AO3, and we realized that somehow, google wasn't properly showing search results for us. So we figured that some of you might have trouble finding the AO3 version. Just search "archive of our own minaly22 works" and you should be pretty close.**


	40. Chapter 36: Bandit Uproar

**The chapter today is once again translated by Magical Kangaroo and presented to all of you by Minaly22.**

 **Enjoy**

* * *

Fire burns in the ruins as the villagers are crying helplessly.

The street is in shambles, with rubble and smoke everywhere.

Marbon is attacking with a Metalic club; Maany is protecting her allies with magic; Gabab is holding up a shield for Mabon; Kulontan and Mirabelle are prepared for battle.

They're holding against a group of almost 30 people... Or should I say, being pushed back slowly.

"Who are you!? Why are you attacking this town!?" Marbon shouts angrily; blood flowing from the injury on his abdomen that was cutt deep enough to hurt the organs.

These guys just appeared in the village out of nowhere! How can a bunch of armored people just appear so suddenly!?

Why wasn't the security bell rung? And where are the damn soldiers that should be here already!?

"As you can see, Bandits!" The fully-armored bald man laughed. He then held his gigantic ax up and charged with a loud roar, "[Boiling Blood]"!

Gabab raised his shield and clashed with Marbon, the clear metallic clang spreads throughout the street.

The shield shatters, Gabab was sent flying. But the bandit wielding the giant axe did not lose his speed, and directed the strike at Maany!

"No way!" Mabon gritted his teeth and struggling to straighten his back, his metal club shining brightly.

…

...

...Then, it broke apart.

Mabon no longer holds a metal club, but a twisted piece of scrap. He was coughing blood as he tried to get up from the rubble, but couldn't even move an inch of his body.

On the other side, the bandits suddenly launched magic attacks of varying sizes, and the four adventurers plus nun were unable to hold on, their formation collapsing.

"Apart from you, isn't there anyone worth fighting in this village?" The bald man approached them while laughing, his ax still swinging, "Such a rural place, it's full of weaklings."

"A-Are you... from... the Capital?" Mabon speaks difficultly.

No wonder their moves seem familiar, if he's not mistaken... those should be a type of "Solo-battle Magic" from the Army... Why would the people from the Capital be bandits?

N-No, are these people even really bandits? Normally, bandits are dressed messily, and their appearance disheveled and different from each other. But these people are well-armored, and even has a magic force.

They attack the village, killing the civilians from the start, burning houses without plundering it, these actions seem different from the usual bandits. If they're not bandits, then what are they...? Adventurers? Mercenaries? Or some noble's private army?

Not plundering means they don't have a need for money, then why attack the village? Is there some kind purpose?

"Argh, why are you talking so much? There's only one person the boss wants alive, you can die, it's fine." The bald guy said while lifting the ax, swinging it downwards to the defenseless Marbon.

Suddenly...

 ***EXPLOSION!***

Just when the scattered adventurers and Maany were watching the "bandits" walking closer, something dropped from the sky in the nick of time!

Rocks were flying, smoke spread throughout the scene, blowing the "bandit" group apart.

Then, a clear metal "breaking" sound.

Marbon opened his eyes, the armored man was gone, and a figure with red hair that is blowing in the wind was there instead.

A height of 170cm, red ponytail, purple tail swaying, there seemed to be things equipped on her wrists and ankles, and smoke came out of her limbs.

"*Cough*... you're Melon... I think?" Mabon coughed blood but laughed in relief

He almost forgot... even though this is a remote village, but there are still stronger people than myself.

"Mr. Marbon, please drink this potion and rest." Melon took out a MPOH(β) and placed it in Marbon's shaking hands, "Leave the rest to us."

The magic force and some close-combatting "bandits" on the other side regrouped after the sudden explosion. Strangely, the smoke surrounding them didn't fade away, but instead started to circle them at a weird tempo.

The black-haired maiden appeared in front of them with a wooden staff in her hand. At the same time, she took off her glasses.

The lead spell-caster instinctively felt the person wasn't someone to be messed with, and asked alarmingly:

"Who are you?"

Between the rubbles, the bald guy struggled for a long time just to leave the rubble pile.

A hole appeared on the chest area of the armor, and with the action of him standing up, the cracks spread, the metal fell piece by piece, and the well-made armor is rendered useless.

"Who! Who attacked me!" Losing his protection, the bald guy picked up his giant axe, pulled a nearby villager as a hostage, and roared angrily.

The lizard girl didn't hide, she just walked towards the man, and took off her gloves.

The answer to the bald guy's question is simply... just two people who shouldn't be messed with.

* * *

 **PS: Anyone shouting "Limiters OFF!" As the two girls are getting ready to kick ass?**


	41. Chapter 37(1): From Seed to Sprout

"Step back! Or I'll kill her, ya know!" The bald macho shouted hysterically at the lizardkin who was approaching him step by step.

He had a short-haired girl in his arm begging for her life. Although she did not know the girl, Melon decided to stop moving.

However, the macho was still quite nervous.

He had no idea how he was hit into the air. The approaching lizardkin girl, though without any visible weapon or armor, instilled a type of instinctive fear in him.

S**t! What the h**k did the m****rf****r do!? Ain't it just one hit! One f*****g hit and my armor was gone! It cost a d**n lot!

What the h**l is she!? She ain't even takin' any d**n weapon... S**t! Ain't it supposed to be an easy peasy? Slaughter some silly folks, scare a black-hair gal's pants off, and wait till Boss to save her? Now what's that b***h doing?

She a soldier? Nay, Boss took 'em away already. Boss said that we should only worry about the Father and those adventurers! But why the h**k is there a lizard-a*s?

How did Boss get the intel wrong!? He is the heir of the d...

His thought was interrupted by Melon's disappearance from his sight with a small "Bang."

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" ... Strange. Somehow my sight turn to the right... What's that funny feeling in my left arm? And why is there a leg at that d**n arm? As if ... as if it is kickin' me off ...

And so he has been launched into the air again.

Melon landed like a nimble bird, holding the shivering hostage in her arms. "Ah," she sighed as she saw a shop tumbling down because of a funny landing by "someone."

That kick might have sent the person a wrong direction... Melon sniffed at the shop with her sensitive nose. Hmm, at least there aren't any people. Correction - no innocent people.

Suddenly, some wracks of the shop started to shake.

"Er...Grah...," the bold guy rose up from the wracks, supporting himself with his axe and cursing continuously. He had a "Lifesaver" at his hand, but it was broken into pieces.

Without this nifty item, he could have kicked the bucket.

"Hmm... Still conscious?" Melon commented in surprise. To keep her opponent's alive until interrogation, she fought with her boots on, and didn't have other equipment; however, to subdue him, she did kick quite hard.

It seems to be a good example that in other places there is always someone stronger. Well, thanks to the upgraded training for two years, a common beast would be defeated immediately.

If that's the case, then she has no choice but using it.

"May I have your name?" spoke Melon to the frightened girl whom she held in her arms.

"Eh...? Deanne, Deanne Vissara...," replied the little girl.

"Don't worry, Ms. Vissara. You are very safe right now."

"Ah? Thank ... thank you very much, em..." Before the girl could finish, Melon already disappeared with a small bang.

 **Bang! Bang! Bang! Pow!**

The ground was cracked, and the sand flew up in the air. Before the bald guy could react, the lizardkin girl who was standing quite far away suddenly landed at a closed distance.

Disregarding the pain in his body, his fear drove him to swing his axe toward Melon.

And then he started to spin with his axe, moving forward with the help of centrifugal force. He danced with the axe, and turned himself into a tornado!

"[Boiling Blood]!" As he shouted, the reflection from the gigantic axe turned red, "[Axe Spin!]"

Seeing this, Melon didn't try to duck or dodge. She opened her palm and swung it toward the axe.

The enchantments in the scales of Melon's right hand were: "Fire Aspect I," "Knockback II," "Protection IV," and "Sharpness IV."

"Protection" protected Melon's hand from the damage, and then "Fire Aspect" plus "Knockback" turned the axe into a flying fireball once Melon touched it.

With the weapon fling in the opposite direction, what was waiting for the bald guy was Melon's specialty - fist to fist.

Those relying upon their weapon would not stand any chance before Melon.

The big guy raised his right fist, but ended up with his right arm broken; he tried to kick with the left leg, and then his ankle was crushed by a trample. And then, before he could scream, Melon chopped at his neck and made him pass out.

…

…

Meanwhile, at a distance from Melon and the axe user, Grace was dealing with the magic force of the "bandits."

She was in a very, very, _very_ _foul_ mood.

"Over there!" shouted the leader of the mages, "Area attack formation 3!" A fire wall appeared upon the summons of six chanters, and it pressed towards Grace.

"...So that's the mages from other places," commented Grace, who had taken off her glasses and appeared behind her enemies with her shiny purple eyes , "... a bit disappointed."

While the mages turned their sights to Grace in surprise, her pupils kept shining in an unnatural purple color.

"… ， ， - [Shadow Spear]," chanted Grace as she raised her staff. Dozens of shadow spears appeared from nowhere and surrounded the foes.

The spears targeted at the lower parts of the bandits - to avoid hitting vital spots. Surprisingly, the spears were stopped before they reached the targets.

"Defence formation!" Six mages chanted the same spell at the leader's order. A hemispherical barrier constructed by the spell blocked the shadow spears. The six continued chanting to maintain the barrier even after the spears were gone.

"...A new spell." The chance to learn made Grace feel a little bit better. Just a little bit.

A hemispherical barrier with the thickness that could block "Shadow Spears" ... Though it was new to Grace, she still felt it was really plain.

Set up a loop, place a condition, separate and divide the appropriate amount of mana. Hmm ..., what should it be called?

"... ， - Barrier Ball." It only took Grace a few seconds to reproduce a mini-version of the barrier.

Grace's action got ants in the mages' pants. What they saw was totally beyond what they expected.

They were supposed to rampage around the village with the berserker baldy, and make a girl crap her pants, so that their Boss can become her hero.

And due to Boss, the girl had black hair, a pair of glasses and purple eyes ... seemed to be the one who was making _them_ crap their pants.

It was astonishing that she summoned a "Small Anti-Beast Barrier" on her own. What's more, the shadow spears did not stop attacking for even a single second.

Apparently, she arranged a complex of spells without paying much attention. By the looks of it, it took nary an effort. Realizing how mighty she was, her foes couldn't help but think that she was already an advanced mage, despite that she was still in her teens, and that she lived in such a remote place.

In contrast, the better ones in the team just passed the intermediate-level exam recently. They certainly felt that the fight was unfair.

While the mages analyzed the situation in despair, Grace disappeared from their sight. Soon they noticed some falling purple petals in their barrier.

"... For you, a stick will do." When the men heard these words, there was already no enough time for them to do anything before they were knocked out by strikes from behind against their heads.

…

…

In the very same demolished streets, problems had been solved.

The unconscious mages were stacked arbitrarily, and a paralyzed strong man was dragged toward the reunion party.

"...Over?" asked Grace.

"Over," replied Melon. She stood still and tossed the macho on the ground and said, "Here's their leader. He's ready for interrogation."

As Melon suggested, she stamped her foot on the man's back. This made him scream and spring up, but he could not even support his body well because his limbs were all broken.

"...Why, did you invade our village?" questioned Grace.

"I-I'll tell ya everything! Please don't kill me! Please! I was bribed! I was told by Aif..."

However, the man could not finish his confession due to the common sense that a person with his neck impaled by an arrow cannot speak. The macho's frightened expression was hence preserved forever.

When Grace and Melon gave up making dead men speak, they heard a sound of trotting horses. And then, they saw cavalry rushing into the village. These cavalrymen were the disappearing troop, lead by Neolla, the heir of the Duke.

Neolla halted his horse in front of Grace, jumped down, and ran to her.

"Grace! Are you alright? Grace?" he asked worriedly, attempting to get a hold of Grace's hand.

"...I'm good. Thank you." Grace backed off, staying away from Neolla. "...I need to go. Bye."

To avoid any further conversation, Grace grabbed Melon's hand and ran away. Neolla stared at their backs and did not follow them.

…

…

"M'lord, the plan..."

"Yeah, failed. Take CARE of those rats."

"M'lord, how about ..."

"That's enough for today," and then the voice paused for a moment, "but I will NOT give up. I WILL marry her - no matter what it takes."


	42. Chapter 37(2): From Seed to Sprout

They are a group of well armed robbers, but their average battle power is a lot worse than those mobs in the forest.

The soldiers, _who should have gotten here already_ , are gone for no reason, and the alarm didn't ring. What the heck?

I counted the red dots on the Mini-map. There are nearly 40 robbers, three-fourths of them went to battle with Marbon and Maany and three more helpers. The rest of them are chasing the escaping Villagers.

Looks like they want to kill us all. Well, with me here - with _us_ here - _we_ won't allow this to go any further.

I used spider strings to hang those ten selfish retards on the gate. And the rest of them… I was worried about Grace, who was going against seven of them. Even though I've heard how strong people really are in this world from Maany and Mirabella - and found myself wanting, because they are far weaker than Grace - I can't help feel worried since it's Grace's debut to human combat.

Because of this, I'm now watching Grace and Melon's battles from the top of the guarding tower, with my binoculars.

Melon literally just aced the battle. After I made her a special equipment, her skills are beyond what this world's common sense could understand now. She is now in an undecidable category with an uncategorized job class.

That equipment, I called them Bands of the Bold. There are four of them, one on each arms and legs. It looks like unique bracers and legguards. I got the ideas from G▢nos' arm, and Yang's Ember Ce▢icas.

You have to use it with special ammunition bullets, but it's not for shooting enemies. The recipe for the ammunition bullet is cheap, each recipe can make 4 bullets, from stone shells made with regular cobblestone, and a compressed gunpowder.

Compressed gunpowder can be crafted by using some regular gunpowder. There are creepers in this world as mobs, and they're not too rare so the Guild often announces sweeping missions on them.

As the technology level for this world, they lack the understanding of gunpowder and it's not treated as a usable resource. No one will buy them nor sell them. So the guild will be happy to sell you if you ask them for it.

Anyway, the bullets are loaded into the Bands of the Bold. There's also a small mechanism made up with redstone and magic stones right at where the bullets are loaded. Melon only have to transfer mana in a specific way to shoot it. She can also micro-adjust the mechanism for changing the bullet's direction.

When fired, the bullet will explode immediately, which created a force to let Melon thrust towards the enemies. The power of the force from a single bullet is limited, but don't worry about that. She can control the amount of the bullets that get fired by controlling the amount of mana she transferred into, which can control the power of the force each time.

Of course, The Bands of the Bold must be enchanted with [Blast protection], or else they can't sustain the explosions.

Every part and every bullet for this weapon, are related to Minecraft. So in other words, _only I_ can make this weapon.

The weapon requires a user with high mastery - to understand and be familiar with the weapon, and a strong enough body, to not get hurt while practicing.

The reason why you need a strong body is that, when you're using the Bands of the Bold, the explosive forces will also hurt you.

But for Melon, she has scales covered on her arms and legs, which give her another layer of protection. And I enchanted [Protection] or [Blast Protection] on her larger scales, too. Doing this has used up all my stocks of protective enchantments.

She has extremely high dynamic visual acuity skills and fast reaction skills. Those skills are also compatible with this special creation.

A year ago, after she finally broke all of the iron dummies I gave them to Melon to let her start practicing.

Even if it's just a regular punch or a kick, they can boost her fist or leg with explosive force when the Bands of the Bold are used, and do a huge damage on the enemy.

By the way, the Bands of the Bold will get very hot after using them continuously. I was worried about that, but Melon even learned [Heat Resistance] skill to prevent the heat… This is something that literally only Melon can control. Because only she has all the skills and fulfills all the criteria, as well as having special enchantments only she would be able to get.

So basically, there is no problem on her side. Let's see how Grace is doing.

I know I should let go of my worries the moment I watched Grace use magic in a faster and more efficient way than the magic army, this also helped my Magic Theorem come to another conclusion.

Before this, let's talk about what is "to use mana" by casting the spells to "do something".

And what is casting? Well, I will use a simple way to tell you guys how people in this world learn magic.

First, pretend you're a teenage boy in a regular family. After you got identified as someone who has the potential to be a mage, your daddy and mommy were very happy about it. And the next day, they spend a lot of money to buy you a Magic Tome.

The name of the book is "Spells for beginners-Fireball (Deluxe version, with explanation)." But when you opened the book with excitement, the book said:

「 &* &^#&^ &^*&! ^&#&^&*!$ %#HDKEJ ^%!% ^^%!$~!$

*% !^%#(&) (&%$&!_&*#&_*!( &*#*& ^$^&#^(&^!* #&

&*^)!&^ &)^)&^^)#( !)#^(! ^(#*^(! *^(#)^! (*#^(!^ (#^(^

! #^&(&*(&*(&(*& !*&#*&! &#!& &#* (&(&!(*&()&)&)&!

)*(*(&)*(&()*&! *(&#*(&!)(*&#*(&*&$_*&)#&&)(& #()&)!( &#)

(*)#&(*! &*$(*^)^#&%!*)#_(!#+_((**(&$#*(&&*&!#*_#_&$&!_

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

&) !#*( HUDHO (*!&)#&(&#*(&#)*(&!$^$^)&(#&!#&(&!)&#()&

&^&(*)! #&*^)&! )&(#&*(*! ()&#&_! &#*(* &$*&*&*(&_&

&(*&)(*&*(& *)!&*#^)& !^&#^&! ^#&^&! ^#*( #&(*#*&#&*

—【Fireball】—」

You can't read it right? It's fine. Because the book is in Deluxe version, so you also got a piece of paper. Here's what it says:

The definitions of those three paragraphs in order are "Fireball" "Straight Forward" and "Shoot"

Wait, now there's another question. What do those %'s mean in second paragraph?

I'll give you five column of time to think about it.

…

…

…

…

…Ok. Time's up.

For real, I don't understand either. If you want to learn how to cast a fireball, all you can do is try to remember every single word from the spell book above. After that, you'll know the first paragraph means Fireball, the second means Straightforward, and the last one is Shoot.

Now you might think, "Can you get a different result by changing the order of the paragraphs in other spells?"

Is it that easy? No! There are thousands of branches on casting. Different branches have different meanings. If you put two different branches together, the result will be like mixing 2 languages together. Ain't nobody gonna understand that!

Then, the casing will fail. The side effects for failing, a little explosion if mild, but can cause a mana backfire when severe. This is why there are fewer magicians as the ranks get higher. Because most of them died from the improper use of magic.

It's suicide to research and figuring out spells.

After I became the Vassal of Flora, and can finally learn magic, I experienced this point first-handedly, and was briefly swallowed by guilt. How could I have let Grace, an Elementalist, take risks this high by freely changing the spell chants?

Coincidentally, I found out the purpose of magic is to let Elemental Fairies do something through casting with cost of mana." This is very similar to how programming languages work back to Earth, "to let the computer do something through programming with cost of electricity.

Because of this, I went to Lady Dryad, created another new magic branch based on C++, a common kind of programming language. Even though I almost died a few times in the process of creation, but I have finally made it.

I added things such as "if" "while" loops, into my magic casting branch. The most interesting part must be the "while" loop.

During the battle, the magicians need to keep casting nonstop to keep that magic barrier, but Grace only have to create a loop that keeps the barrier nonstop. So, Grace is already winning by default.

It is really funny that I created the branch, I couldn't present any good result because I'm a Commoner. But Grace had already mastered it after I taught her 2 years ago. Right now she can cast easier spells within few seconds.

Those magician must feel very shocked. A spell that must be casted by 6 people together continuously, but Grace just "learned" that within few seconds.

That's why I said,

I am very proud of Grace.

The street is now a mess. Melon and Grace both won, those poor robbers are now lying on the ground everywhere.

I started to hear horses, and there are people coming this way, lo and behold, it's the soldiers who disappeared, and the landlord's son.

He brought soldiers to save the villagers, well, that's what a landlord should do, so I should be done with all of these now.

"Oh, yeah, Grace said she needs a ride, I'll have to revise the blueprint later on." I self-talked, jump down the bell tower, and starts swinging.

* * *

 **Sorry, organization malfunction! The translated chapter of 37(3) was placed AFTER 37(2), and I ended up translating 37(3)!**

 **But now you get double updates! Horray!**


	43. Chapter 37(3): From Seed to Sprout

Chapter 37

Melon and Grace defeated the bandits who attacked the village, became the local heroes, and often had enthusiastic villagers invite them to dinner.

According to some sources, there was a masked figure saving people with cobwebs at the time (Yeah, that's me, thank goodness I wasn't recognized), and has become quite the topic of conversations for the villagers.

The village's atmosphere isn't really affected by this incident, because there was only a small loss in finance and only a few people were lightly injured.

It was said that the soldiers were manoeuvring out of town that day, which gave the bandits a chance to attack... it's strange, shouldn't those things be done in the village? It had an opposite effect by making the town vulnerable.

But the residents accepted that reason... whatever, I'm not the only one with a loss.

The future Alfnis Lord (And Grace's boyfriend) paid for the restoration himself, and gave the villagers compensation, which improved his prestige.

The case ended just like that, and time passed, it was a month before our coming of age, the day when Grace and I shall leave.

The horse wagon... no, the wolf wagon was parked in front of the town, Rifle had saddlery on him, and the villagers looked at Melon placing the goods on the carriage with worshipping eyes. They all thought Rifle was Melon's pet.

Melon didn't seem too comfortable with their attention, but that can't be helped. For a [Commoner] like myself, it can't be good to become the centre of attention, so I'll just leave the glory to Grace and Melon.

I put the last [Chest] on the carriage, closed the backdoor, and everything was set.

Melon was assisting me pack up some things, and Grace was reading the Academy's manual - ooh boy, that manual is thick - next to us.

"Walson, I think you're too skilled!" "This is the first time I've seen such a comfortable carriage!" "Wonderful, Walson." "Woah, not easy."

Mirabelle suddenly hugged me, shook me, and two soft and warm things come in contact with my neck wowwwwwww.

Ahh... Grace's glare hurts so much, no wonder it's called the [Enderman's Stare of the Abyss], waitwaitwait! d0n't h1t m3 w1th th3 st4ff!

These people are heading towards the branch office of the {Eyes of the Night Cat}, located in the capital, a guild normally sets their main office in the Capital, and their branch in the countryside, but apparently {Eyes of the Night Cat} does the opposite.

Recently, there is a large-scale subjugation quest, and is recruiting a lot of B-level adventurer teams, which is also the reason that the group of four is going there.

...I think they're supposed to subjugate a dragon? Dragons, hmm. I thought they were mythical beings.

Melon regularly asks the adventurers questions regarding that, I think she's interested. Well, if she wants to go, she can just say it and I'll make the preparations for her.

And I also have to go to the branch office to greet the people there, get to know each other. With me being a new member and all, saying hi to the seniors is a must, plus I'll have to do business there in the future, I'll certainly need their help.

On a side note, I have already acquired the assets and funds for starting my business. It's covered by Grace's travel expenses and selling some rare animal skins, it was 500 gold coins in total, an amount of money that reuglar people could comfortably live off of for several years.

One gold coin is ten silver coins, one silver coin is ten copper coins, and there's a currency called the "broken coin", just treat it like shillings, the lowest of the low.

Erm, if I roughly translate the currency, I'm not able to be too precise, but a gold coin around the size of a thumb is about 30 USD, according to the amount of supplies it can buy.

And since this world's prices aren't that high, you can easily tell the value of these 500 gold coins. That's a considerable amount of financial power right there.

"Master Melon, all of the goods are loaded." I walked up to Melon saying this, which made her expression sour with more unease.

It can't be helped, currently, this is the front between Melon and me to the public. To them, I am the servant, she is the master.

Melon is an anonymous but powerful adventurer, and I'm her coachman... Whatever, I have no problem being her coachman.

About Melon, I changed the collar she used to wear on her neck.

I bought a necklace from a traveling merchant, this necklace is a type of slave collar, but five times the price. It was five gold coins total.

I modified it a bit after purchase, using the [Millennium Fairy Wood], which grants the wearer a regeneration effect.

I didn't want Melon to keep wearing that collar, she is a girl, a necklace would better suit her.

I would release her if I could, but she is very resistant on this matter, so that's not going to happen, even when changing the collar, it took a lot of effort to prevent her from being upset.

I gently placed the necklace on her first, then after explaining the change, took out a pick axe and stored the old collar directly into the [Inventory].

This is the only method I could use, as I didn't have the key.

"Umm...why did you take off the collar?"

"Well, the old one was getting too small for you, plus it was given to you by your old master, right? No no no, I won't accept that, your collar must be given by me.

Even though this is just an excuse, it works on Melon, and she agreed by nodding.

Although... Because there are almost no slaves in the Village of Saddin, I don't have much knowledge on them, which lead to some awkward situations.

"But... A necklace-shaped collar... Master made me a pleasure slave... About that, I'll do my best to make Master happy." Melon said in an embarrassed tone with her face red.

...Few nights ago, after finishing the final preparations, I decided to sleep on the carriage, but I found Melon in nothing but underwears waiting for me on the bed.

Melon's figure is way too beautiful - destructively beautiful even, a slightly ripped belly, perfectly shaped and bouncy oppai...

No, my body isn't of age yet, I'm still only 15... Nothing should happen before I'm 18, that's my belief.

Plus... Grace would definitely cast down her judgment on me, a fate similar to death.

If I ever accidentally do something perverse, Grace would attack me.

Are you aware that you're going to the Academy to enjoy a wonderful school life with a perfect guy? Why are you still restraining me...

Lamenting, I climbed into the driver's seat, and looked at the potted plant on the shotgun before lashing the leash.

Before leaving, I visited Lady Dryad and Arkon, and Lady Dryad gave me a seed as a departure gift, which is currently the little-potted plant next to me.

But it's strange, even though I'm [Vassal of Flora], I can't speed up its growth through magic, it sprouted after I sprinkled [Bonemeal] on it, but nothing happened when I sprinkled more.

Well, I'll just let it grow slowly.

Looking back at the villagers waving us goodbye, I took a lasting look at the town that raised me for 15 years, I chuckled. Pulling the leash, the heavy-looking wolf wagon started to advance forward.

Let's go, towards the Capital, towards tomorrow's path.

* * *

*End of Book 1: A Villager, not a Hero!?"*

(Alternatively: Childhood arc.)

...

...

 **Sorry, organization malfunction! The translated chapter of 37(3) was placed AFTER 37(2), and I ended up translating 37(3) first! I had to head back and fish 37(2) out from the stocks.**

 **But now you get double updates! Horray!**


	44. Childhood arc Afterwords

Author Note & Afterword on Book 1: "Childhood"

 **Hello everyone, this is Hoga.**

 **Erm... The review section seems a little heated, so I accidentally wrote too much for an Author's Note.**

 **...If I was the reader, seeing the story so far(Walson and Grace's conflict ending without a proper reason), I would also angrily demand an explanation from the author.**

 **If I don't clear this up, it seems that a lot of people will drop this story Σ(´∀｀；)**

 **S-so just give me a chance to explain! Don't be so angry ε≡≡ﾍ( ´Д`)ﾉ**

 **Let's start with the "dumb" Walson.**

 **When I first designed his character, I mixed in a lot of my own personalities and experience. In a way, he is a self-insert as well as an original character.**

 **He has his own emotions, his own thoughts, but after getting hurt, his actions became desperate.**

 **After the incident, he feels regret and self-doubt, seeming weak and indecisive, and wanting to mend the relationship between him and Grace.**

 **Just like you guys said, it was stupid, but can you really just give up a relationship which has lasted for so long?**

 **A companion who grew up with (or brought up by) you suddenly betrays you one day, not to mention being caught red-handed (even though it was a misunderstanding).**

 **This is enough for Walson to develop self-doubt and anger serious enough to cloud his judgment, even though he wants to ask Grace about it face to face, he doesn't have the strength of will to do so.**

 **All characters need to grow - everything and everyone eventually grows from experience. And this kind of "dumb" character needs to grow, especially Walson's mentality about Grace.**

 **He and Grace (also Melon) while seemingly inseparable, have the barrier of reincarnation between them. Leading Walson to be slightly arrogant in front of Grace from time to time, as he feels that he knows everything, and is more experienced.**

 **As for Grace, she is already grown up, a brilliant and pretty girl who also has thoughts and personalities of her own.**

 **She admires her childhood friend Walson, but is also dissatisfied with Walson's attitude.**

 **After their misunderstanding, Walson never gave her a chance to explain (Grace also has difficulties with communication, she isn't good at talking, as everyone has witnessed), so she also got angry, saying things that make him mad on purpose.**

 **So... It's basically like a couple's fight, but Walson's feelings towards Grace is a bit complicated as of now.**

 **Then, I would like to talk about the translation problem.**

 **If we slow down the upload process, we may never finish, as the Chinese version of this web novel is already on chapter 215 (Yes... There was only a 50 chapters gap at the start of this translation project, but now the gap is at 180 chapters) (๑´•.̫ • `๑)**

 **The "childhood" passage of the story is set in a town and a forest, but it's only a small part of the world in the novel.**

 **The Village of** Saddin **is just a small town in a country, and this country is just one of the many countries on a continent.**

 **Yes, I don't want to make this** minecraft **story a simple** minecraft **story, I'm in pursuit of a larger plot.**

 **After the "childhood" passage is the "capital" passage where the characters live in the capital city and spend time there, leading into the world-building stage of the story.**

 **This also makes the translation harder as the story goes on, there's also a certain level of difference between the grammar structures of English and Chinese, and some of the nouns aren't easy to translate.**

 **Every single chapter presented before you are actually produced after a lot of** discussion **...**

 **Some people think the quality of the translation has gone down, and we will do our best to fix that, but we (the author and the translators) are only students, not professionals (the closest thing we have is Minaly22, who is an English Major, but he, like** everyone **of us, is a student) so our efforts may be limited.**

 **We are only students who keeps on writing/translating out of a passion for the work.**

 **We take every suggestion in the comments with great value, but... please don't be too harsh on us (つд⊂)ｴｰﾝ**

 **Anyways, entering the "capital" passage, the plot will become more interesting, which many readers can vouch for me. In the Chinese version, it wasn't until the "capital" passage that more readers started to gather, and it was also said by many readers to be wonderful.**

 **Thank you all for reading and the support, we will keep working hard.**

* * *

PS: Minaly22 here! As it's getting closer to summer and the end of the semester, we are all going to be drowned with school work, so updates might get slower until things let up. Still, thank you all for reading, please look forward for the new arc!


	45. Chapter 38: Arc 2 Prologue

The wheels gently came to a stop. It's been a couple days since we left the village of Saddin, the village which was full of our memories is now far away beyond the horizon. We can't see it anymore.

It's getting late, we stopped the wagon and started the preparations to make camp… Actually, I can let Rifle pull our wagon in the morning, and use the redstone mechanism on our wagon to let it keep moving during nighttime. Even though this, without a doubt, will be much faster, but we have no reason for doing that.

From the experiences of previous travelers and adventurers, including camping at night and getting supplies, it will take about a month to get to the Capital from the Village of Sadin, by horse wagon.

But our wolf wagon is way faster than normal horse wagons. Plus, we don't have to stop to get supplies, so if nothing goes wrong, we can get to the Capital within 60%, or even less, than the regular time.

Back to camping, I grabbed two bathtubs made of iron, and some wooden planks from my inventory as a folding screen. And with that, there are two separated bathrooms! One for men, another for women, of course. All you have to do is to pour hot water into the bathtub, and you can take a bath.

Grace, who already got the fire up, is sitting beside the fire looking at an undone meat

And the adventurer quartet, they are talking and laughing while they're building their own basic tent. Well, I have to let them sleep outside of the wagon, because there's not enough space for them. Wagon is for Grace and Melon.

For me, I don't care about my bed. Give me a blanket and I will be able to sleep on the driver seat just fine on my own.

Thanks to Rifle, we don't have to guard at night. We only need to keep the fire up. Well, this is one of the advantages to let Rifle pull our wagon.

Not only monsters, even robbers won't attack us. I'll have to say sorry to any of you guys who want to see exciting fighting scenes like that; but with Rifle around, no one will purposely look for trouble with us.

Think about it, If you're a robber, you see a strange wagon, and saw that it's a giant wolf pulling it, will you want to attack it? No way!

Too bad for me, I wanted to give our security/guarding system a try. Such as a cannon that shoots iron ingots, powered by redstones, wind magic stones, and gun powders.

Melon have told me that there were people riding horses with weapons approaching, but retreated after they saw us. But how did she knew, here's what she said, "I know there are man horses by their sound of steps and their smells, I hear clanks, this means they have weapons, and they were looking at us from a high place for a long time, so they should be robbers or bandits."

I found out that Melon is now like a scout. Wait no, a scout doesn't do 1 v.s. 10 fights. She showed us how well she fights from the last robber attack back in the village.

And she didn't use the [Band of the Bold] on their face at that time. If she did… uhhh, it will definitely not be very comfortable if you got punched, and it explodes from inside of you. Because of this, I have told Melon not to use them until real severe problems appear.

After we done our camp works, I came to the fire pit, Melon, Grace, and the adventurer quartet are already on their respective spots. Everyone is talking enthusiastically, each with a well-done meat skewer in their hands.

For Grace and Melon, it's their first time to leave the Village of Sadin, and they're really curious about what the outside world look like. So they were really focus on the stories from Kulontan, the swanker of the fours.

And his partners make fun of him sometimes, or refute some of his more ridiculous claims, making others laugh with their antics.

But I couldn't get into their conversations, so instead of sitting with them and being awkward, I went to lie beside the wagon and listen to them with a piece of bread I grabbed from my inventory.

"By the way, Mr. Gabab, can you tell us more about the mission all of you accepted this time?"

"Oh, about that, I only know we need to help them find and eliminate a lower grade [Ground Dragon] that had been defeated and repelled by the [Diva of the Wind]. We didn't want to accept it because the risk is very high. But the mission is from the Capital's guild, so we can't reject it."

"Diva of the Wind?"

"She is a grade-S adventurer, a really powerful girl like a hero! I've heard that she'll be leading this mission..."

Hmm… When the conversation initially started, Melon always seemed to be very interested whenever they're talking about the life of being an adventurer.

Looks like she really is interested into being one. Thinking about her abilities, it will not be a problem to become a high-grade adventurer in the guild… I've asked her before, but she rejected.

I actually want her to live life in her own way, independently, and not only live as my slave. I don't think I've ever treated her like a slave... yet she always kept the mindset of one. I'll have to talk to her a little more about this.

…

…

After dinner, There are only some embers in the fire pit now.

I'm sitting beside the fire, with a stick, roasting marshmallows, because I'm bored. After everyone else took their time to clean up in the bathrooms, I'm going to put away the bathrooms. So we can leave right after we get up in the morning, without wasting time on packing stuff.

It's eleven o'clock. I started to feel tired after driving all day. I look at the ashes in the fire pit, and my eyelids heavy as lead.

... I don't know how much time has passed, but after a while, I woke up because I heard scufflings.

Then I see Grace sits next to me. With a jacket, which I think was going to cover me.

She found out I was awake, "Walson... get a cold if sleep here..." Grace said.

That's odd, she just talked to me? These days she just turned around or walked away when she saw me, like I'm something dirty...

Or why do you think I chose to eat alone? Because I don't want to get things awkward.

"It's alright, I can still drive you to the Capital even if I'm sick," I pushed her hand aside, the hand with the jacket, "You're one to talk, keep the jacket. You don't want to sneeze at the first day of school, right?"

I feel impatience welling in my heart for no reason. Shoot, I dropped the marshmallow into the pit, now it's gone.

"...That's not, what I mean," Grace frowned.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that," I shrugged my shoulders, "Then, what's up?"

"...Nothing, just, Walson, is cold to me."

Cold?

You tell me I'm cold? What the heck! Who is the one that brought people to shared my secrets, and said "I can't hang out with my boyfriend" like it's my fault, then use me as an errand boy!?

"...I want to, make up, with Walson, like Melon..."

"Like Melon?" I raised my eyebrow.

"...Walson and Melon, are good... and have gifts..." Grace is stammering again, it took me a few seconds to understand her sentence.

The gift she said, is a decorative little sculpture made from Millenium Fairy Wood. I made that when I was bored while driving these days. It is like a talisman for safety, but just for symbolic meaning without anything else special about it.

So all those words you said just because you want a gift? I mean, you don't have to beat around the bush though.

"Of course I have a gift for you, for thanking you for travel with Walson's Travel Agency."

I've also made another one for Grace. For wishing Grace's school life being alright, or maybe I'm wishing for something else. I was wondering how am I going to give it to her, but seems like Grace came for it before I even ask.

The sculpture is carved like a Sakura Petal; if she doesn't like it...

"Please tell me if you don't like it, Miss Grace. I will be happy to remake one," I stood up, tossed the sculpture to Grace. And she looked at it as the sculpture as it fell onto her thighs.

"Walson, I did not…."

"'I'm going to sleep, good night." I have totally no mood now. I climbed into the driver's seat.

So, all you wanted, is just a gift.

...Hey, you better get excited, I still have an unfinished staff for you.

I pulled out the magic cloth and stared at the magical letters inscribed on it. I want to fall asleep quickly, so I drank a Mana Potion, forcing myself to produce mana to my maximum capacity. And I grabbed my charcoal pen.

I collapsed gracelessly on the driver seat finally after running out of mana.

How long will our team relationship last? I wondered,

…

…

Probably, until you don't need me anymore.


	46. Chapter 39: Doubt

**Double Updates! Here is the first one**!

* * *

The days after that, I almost didn't have any conversations with Grace, or to be specific, only the most basic of communications remained.

"Good morning", "breakfast is ready", "It's lunchtime", "You can take a shower first", "goodnight"... our relationship was down to the freezing point.

As for the amulet I gifted her, while I cleaned up the campsite the next day, I found a charred wooden trinket decorated with cherry blossom shapes in between the leftovers of the campfire.

Because it was made of [Millennium Fairy Wood], normal fires can't burn it easily, so it wasn't really damaged apart from being smoked and appearing charred, but seeing it thrown in the fire made me feel... something...

It's a pretty valuable material, and I spent a lot of time on carving it.

This made me rethink if I want to finish Grace's staff, if I don't, then months of my hard work will go to waste, falling unconscious and waking up repeatedly, everything I did will be for nothing; but if I did... I don't really want to see the staff all on its lonesome in the dumpster a few days later.

...But this is something I promised Grace, that I will finish a staff and gift it to her, and up until now she has only been using a normal beginner staff.

Maybe, maybe... she's waiting for me to finish this staff...

…

...

... Hah, even I feel unsure when saying that.

I held my head and lay down on the driver's seat, looking at the sunny and cloudless sky, I let out a sigh.

Remembering the past, she would always follow me behind my back, letting me show her the view of the mountain; or she'll learn a new magic and excitedly run over and show it to me, hoping to get a compliment or words of support.

...But now... why, Grace, why are you betraying me? What went wrong? Did I do something horrible to her?

If that was the case, why do I have no memory of it whatsoever... wait, perhaps precisely because I couldn't even remember what I did, which makes it horrible?

OMG, I'm mentally forty! Why am I so bad at things relating to relationships? If my life was made into a documentary I bet I can feel the peanut gallery raging at me. - They are probably raging right now, aren't they?

Then, should I go apologize to Grace? Apologize and then... I don't know what comes after that, some wounds simply can't be healed.

I've said this in the past, that everything in the secret base can't be leaked to anyone, of course, I've been constantly reminding Grace and Melon, and put my trust in them, but Grace brought a group of outsiders to conduct a carpet search.

That is basically telling me to die... Thinking of it like that, even the fact that we didn't fight is a miracle, so wanting our relationship return to what it was before, is pretty much impossible.

Whatever, why am I thinking about it so much? I just need to bring Grace to the capital, then we can part and go our separate ways.

My plans for the future are still unclear. As of now, I want to become a merchant, as for Melon... wait, Melon should also be able to attend school, right?

Hmm... I think the Royal Academy isn't just training [Mages], but [Fighters] as well, so I could consider sending her to school, the money I currently have should be enough to fund her training and studies. If combat training in the academy doesn't work out, at least she gets to study reading and writing.

Although I have taught her quite a bit, Melon has always been lacking in reading and writing, since we live in a rural place, she hasn't had many chances to practice either.

Ahh! Maybe have her become an adventurer instead? She seemed interested in that.

Anyways, no matter if she's going to school or becoming an adventurer, a place to settle down is a must, perhaps I have to consider on finding a place to stay in the Capital.

* * *

With all these complicated feelings and thoughts swimming in my head, we arrived.

The Capital, City of Tegittan.

Tegittan, also the name of the country, and the name of the royal family, with king Tegittan XIX as the current ruler.

The capital is named after the royal family, and the size of the entire city is at least ten times bigger than Saddin. Apart from regular land transportation, this city also has very convenient and prospering water transport, and the canals flowing throughout has a European feel to it all.

In this city, the canals leading in all directions are the main method of transportation, countless public water transports called "Capinoes" sails amidst them, giving the city of Teggitan the name "City of Water".

This city is said to have been built on top of the [Maze of Aqua], the water flows from the maze using some kind of method of extraction, the minerals in the water also provides for the plentiful crops in villages near it, which in turn, has made the economy great in the Capital.

The entire Teggitan city is divided into five areas, there's the Activity district, Livelihood district, Nobility district, Castle district, and Academy district.

Apart from the various trade guilds in the activity district, institutes similar to governmental administrative departments or Adventurer's Guilds are also set in this place, the branch office of [Eyes of the Night Cat] we'll visit later is also located there.

There are way more things in the livelihood district, other than the houses, there're markets and shops right next to the academy, and you could simply treat this as a mixed pot with a little bit of everything included.

The nobility district is home for the nobles, while the castle is where the royal family lives

Lastly, the academy district. This country values the education of [Fighters] and [Mages], it's evident as they planned an area just for educating, and this is also Grace's destination.

Well, although I explained so much... we're still stuck outside of the city because of the wolf-drawn wagon.

Apart from being asked a lot of questions - borderline interrogation, really - there's also many explaining to do, which I admit, is my fault... I forgot that bringing Rifle would cause many problems, looks like I'll have to visit the Adventurer's Guild to register it as a work-beast.

"Hey, what's happening?" Hearing the commotion, the leader of the soldiers came over.

It was a square-faced bald man with a stubbly chin, and after seeing the wolf wagon, his expression changed.

"Ahh! Might you be the new guy, Walson?"

"Ahh, hello senior Cadan." I helplessly stuck my tongue out.

This was mentioned before, that someone from [Eyes of the Night Cat] joined the army in the Capital, which was this guy right here.

"It's alright, Oi! These people are alright, let them in! Sorry but I'm still on duty, I won't go to the branch office until the end of this month, sorry again! New guy!"

Knowing a lot of people makes everything easier no matter where you are, networking and making connections always benefit business. It's like this in my past life, and it's the same here too, after the four adventurers said goodbye to Cadan, we finally entered the city.

Our new life, is about to begin.


	47. Chapter 40: Capital

**Double updates! Here is the second one!**

* * *

The Capital, the place I've always wanted to go, a place I always looked forward to. I had never seen a city with this many people before.

There are tall buildings, which you cannot see in the Village of Saddin. And those water channels penetrated the whole city, I feel the traffic is more convenient than in the Village.

Because of the waters, the humidity is very high in the Capital. The air is full of unfriendly water elementals. They can't hurt me, but my cool down time for teleporting got affected, from originally half a second, to approximately one second.

Hmm… doesn't affect normal movement, but will get more dangerous in close combat. I think I will not have to teleport since I'm only moving around the Academy.

...Of course, my teleport is a secret in the first place, can't let just anyone see that.

Walson borrowed a normal and unassuming horse wagon from someone and drove Melon and me to the Academy. There are still two weeks before school starts, but there are already quite a lot of students waiting in front of the gate. Finally, Walson drove the wagon to the street across the gate.

I can't see the inside because of the stone wall, but the stone buildings looked spectacular, and this is the place where I am going to live in.

"Ok, here's the Academy. Have a great school life," Walson pulled the leash, and the wagon stopped.

Melon looked at me and said,"Take care, Miss Grace."

I looked at Melon, "...Nn, goodbye, Melon." She handed me my bag. During the whole process, I didn't even look at Walson.

I put the bag on my back, turned around, and walked toward the Academy gate.

"I thought at least a goodbye was worth our friendship for over ten years, but I guess I expected too much." I heard a taunt, then the sound of the wheels and horses. I turned around, but Walson already drove away.

...How could it just be a goodbye? Only a goodbye?

I still have, have lots of things want to tell you, Walson, and lots of things I want to do together.

In the forest, I didn't expect the manager will ignore my request. He ordered the mercenaries to search the forest, and let them attack Rifle, no matter how I stopped them.

I just wanted to return the manager's favor. If I knew it will be a mess, I should just refuse him from following me into the forest.

These days, every time after I argued with Walson, I felt depressed. But still, during the arguments, I can't control myself, always saying things I shouldn't say to Walson.

Walson, do you hate me?

…

…

"Miss Lyubya L. Mejelova, please come to the third test field!"

Suddenly, an announcement pulled me back to reality and away from the things I can't figure out in my mind.

Here is the fourth training field in the Academy. It is being used as a test field for new mage students.

I've read the students' manual, the purpose of this is to test how well the students use their power, and the time for testing lasts for two weeks. During this time, students from all over the world will come to the Capital for testing.

Now, I'm sitting on the stone bench with other new students, looking around a little nervously.

The girl sat in front of me with short and white hair, stood up after she heard the announcement. And left leisurely with confident steps.

I was starting to get very nervous. I held my wand very tight. Um, um, what should I do later? I remember I need to...

"Miss Grace! Miss Grace, please come to the first test field!" The announcement then called my name after that. I stood up, walked towards the little platform surrounded with magical barriers.

The girl who is on the platform is red-haired, dressed scantily with pretty features. I walked up the stone stairs with hesitation. And finally got onto the platform.

I took a look around, I found that there are people looking at the training field on the second floor in one of the buildings nearby.

"You're Grace?" She asked by the time I stood on the platform.

"Um, yes, I… I'm Grace, turning fifteen in few weeks, from the Village of Sadin, I like to read…"

"I'm just checking who you are, not asking you to introduce yourself." The Red-haired girl raised her eyebrows, she didn't even look at me, just focused on the parchment in her hands.

"..." I didn't know what should I say now.

"Come on, don't be so scared, I won't eat you." The red-haired girl got a new parchment, I saw her writing my name on it. "Let's see..."

"...Ah, this is the letter uncle Mabbon gave me," I suddenly remembered the letter he gave me. I took it out from my bosom.

The red-haired girl didn't take it by hand, instead, she snapped her fingers loudly, and the letter flew from my hand, and opened by itself in the air.

She peaked the letter, let out a sound of surprise, and finally looked at me.

"Your referee is Marbon?"

"...Yes, uncle Marbon gave me the letter."

"Pff, so he was in Saddin these years… Let's change the topic. You have been cursed so you can't touch water directly? And you can't cast water spells?"

"...Yes."

"Then, are you good at any other attributes?

"..." I hesitated about whether or not I should say I like the dark element or not.

"It's ok, we don't hate the darks. At least I don't," the red-haired girl said, "Just tell me what you're good at."

"Mostly dark and wind, and some fire and earth, only a little on light."

"An Elementalist with five attributes, not bad," She kept writing, "What's your level?"

"...34." She stopped and look at me again.

"Really?"

"...Yes."

"Do you have a license for Intermediate Elementalist?"

"...What is that?"

"Nevermind. Saddin is just a small village, after all, it's normal for not knowing that… That will be all. Because you are a student that Marbon recommended, so I wanted to know you a little bit more. Pardon me."

Suddenly, while I was trying to say something, she grabbed my hand, and I feel a force of mana burst into my body. In a subconscious response, I also used my own mana to block that mana and forced it out of my body.

Her eyes widened in surprise and stared at me.

"...Oh, I'm sorry." I said, but I still don't want her to intrude into my body like that.

"You're good, this is your enrollment and identification," She let go, and gave me the parchment in her hand, "Take this and go to the next station back there for your Student ID card. After that, you can go to the Freshman' dorm. You will live there until you get into one of our branches."

Orderly streets made from bricks, with water canals in between, flowing past one castle-like building after another.

People of different races and different classes/jobs were lingering and making noises that only a crowd could make. Even the rare elves, demi-humans with cat ears or wolf ears; heck, there are even a few with lion heads or panther heads could be seen.

After receiving the ID card and keys, Grace walked towards the Freshmen registration office, eyes wide with wonder and excitement.

Beast type demi-humans... Saddin didn't have those. And unlike Melon, these are all fluffy animals with fur and hair.

"Hey! You there, what are you looking at? You a newbie?" Seems as if the intensive look has made the lion-head aware of Grace's gaze, they turned towards Grace and shouted.

He stood at the street right outside the registration office, surrounded by four to five students. Those students had beautiful and flashy equipment on their bodies, with one female [Mage] in particular wearing a white robe with golden outlines.

"...Ah, sorry." Grace bowed in apology. Being caught staring is quite impolite, and a very strange experience.

Watching Grace's movement with amusement, the students started laughing one by one. Grace couldn't understand the reason why they were laughing, and could only look at them quizzically.

"Pfft. Come over here, which branch do you belong to?" The lion-head said with his hands resting on his hips, leering at Grace.

"...Branch?" Grace inquired.

Hearing this, the students seem to laugh even louder.

"You hear her? She doesn't even know what a branch is."

"Ah, according to my dad, all peasants who enter always start off without being sorted into one. They have to give their all for any of the branches to accept them." The girl in white robes said.

"Sounds pitiful. Doesn't that mean they have to live in the pigsty?" A boy with silver plate armor said.

One of the tall and thin boys tried his best to suppress his laughter and turned to face Grace.

"Hey pea... you, let me ask you, does your student ID say that your dorm is the Freshmen Dorm?"

"...Yes. Excuse me, what is the direction...?"

"Peh! How would I know the way to the pigsty!" The boy spat, then laughed, and the surrounding students grew even rowdier.

"..." Grace said nothing, she just turned and walked away.

No matter how naive she might be when it comes to social interactions, even she can get a clue and know that they held ill intent towards her.

Then, it is best to ignore them. It's hardly polite to attack people when coming to a new place.

Grace's thoughts flashed back to Marbon and his instructions regarding the academy, things such as the system, things to look out for, etc.

The royal academy has six "branches" known as the house of White Whale, house of Fish Dragon, house of Rhoa Peacock, house of Wyvern, house of Unicorn, and the house of Gryphon.

Diving students into these six houses is how the academy tries to cultivate competitiveness between them... and usually all new students start from the freshmen dorm.

But Marbon said that these six houses are actually backed up by the nobility. Therefore, young boys and girls who have connections with respective noble families are sent to their dorms before even getting close to the freshmen dorm.

... And for the same reason that the six branch houses are connected to nobility, students who lack connection often end up staying in the freshmen dorm for years.

In the end, the freshmen dorm end up having mostly 'peasants' in it. Despite the only other example being Neolla, I feel that interacting with nobility is never a pleasant thing.

The youths she just met, and especially Neolla... Neolla is the reason why Grace couldn't make up with Walson yet, Mu...

Having no one to tell her the directions is just fine, she can still read afterall.

Following the signboards took a bit more time, she ended up walking several circles, but managed to find the girl's dorm for freshmen sitting in the corner of the academy.

It was a building that was three floors tall, made with plain white stone. The entire building was shaped like a "U" and looked very ordinary, nothing like what the young nobles called 'pigsty'. It was even bigger than the Orphanage she was so familiar with.

However, when Grace saw the dorm, she didn't enter immediately. She instead took a turn and walked into a small alleyway next to the dorm.

Because she unwittingly came upon a scene that would invoke a sense of deja vu, a scene that she simply couldn't just leave behind.

* * *

In the alleyway, the signature energy pulse of water magic still remained. Three girls were blocking the entrance, talking to each other, each with a staff in hand.

"Even after being splashed by water, she remains silent, how infuriating. Looks like she doesn't seem to care." Said the tall and thin girl.

"Then how do you think should we please our senior Kleya?" Said the small girl.

"How about we strip her naked and tie her on a boat, then let it float away on the canals?" Said the fat girl.

"Eh? Wouldn't that be overdoing it?" Said the small girl.

"But this might be able to prove our loyalty to senior Kleya! Then she might let us join the house of Gryphon!" Said the tall and thin girl.

While the three of them were discussing bullying tactics in broad daylight, they were completely unaware of the cherry petals floating around them.

Yes, deja vu. But it seems like it's missing something, or perhaps a someone. Someone that will stand up to bullies.

Nn... I'm thinking of Walson again.

Then the sound of a heavy object impacting flesh sounded three times, followed by the sound of three collapsing bodies.

Finally, Grace was able to see that there was a human - no wait, pointy ears, an elf? - soaked to the bone, sitting at the end of the alleyway.

Wavy golden hair and a light skirt and shawl. Would have been really pretty, but it's all wet.

She just sat there, motionlessly. Not even bothering to raise her head to acknowledge Grace.

"Don't bother me. Just leave." She said, with her head lowered. Grace couldn't see her face.

Grace heard her words, but only blinked and surveyed the surroundings. Objects were scattered around the ground, almost as if a bag was cut open.

But then, of the objects fallen on the ground, Grace managed to spot a student ID and a key... how convenient.

"... But I don't know my room... Waiting for roommate..." Grace held out her hand to the sitting girl and spoke kindly, "... Can senior Aure take me to our room?"

* * *

 **AN: Don't worry guys, Walson and Grace will make up soon! I forgot which chapter exactly, but it should be around 5 more chapters. Don't sweat too much about it.**


	48. Chapter 41: Business and Learning

The branch office of my guild is a place with a warming atmosphere, and it was directly rebuilt from a hotel, on the door hangs a totem of a black cat, with the sign for the [Eye of the Night Cat] hanging on the door.

I'm currently sitting in a rocking chair inside the branch office, reading the brochure of the Academy that Grace left behind.

...I must say, can something this thick be called a brochure?

While rocking on the chair, I'm holding a cute loli.

Her name is Nita, aged 7, and a dog-human( a kind of demi-human that take on features of dogs or canines). Sleeping deeply, her brown ears swayed in sync with her breathing.

A furry loli! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!

...I think I just accidentally revealed my fetishes.

*Cough*, ok, let's get back on topic.

Other than being the branch office to the [Eyes of the Night Cat], this place also serves as a hotel, the owner of the shop is Paul who also happened to be a member, so the members of the guild receive a 50% discount! Although the full cost is still pretty inexpensive even before the discount.

Paul is a 40 years old middle-aged man, and he used to be an adventurer until he took an arrow in the knee. And even though he has retreated from the front lines, he still trains every day up until now.

"Why are there so many old dudes in the guild?"... I asked this question on the [Message Board] before, and was scolded immediately.

Nita is Paul's foster daughter, she lost a leg in an monster ambush, got left behind by her parents in a rush, and was rescued by Paul. A dog-human who can't jump around freely... is like a bird unable to fly, a star unable to return to the sky.

I found out about her on the [Message Board], so I already knew of her existence, and this was also one of the reasons I decided to come to the branch office.

My potion can definitely heal her, but let me take advantage of this opportunity for a bit, as I've already arranged a meeting with one of the merchants from [ _Mart Chamber of Commerce_ ], a merchant guild to be precise.

To be honest, I wanted to meet with the chairman, but a kid like me can only hope...

"Just wait a little longer, I'll give you a surprise later!" I looked at the Nita sleeping in my lap, although missing a leg, she's still a very energetic child.

You'll be able to jump around freely later, sweet child.

Ok, back to the... inexplicably thick brochure in my hands, a training course for battling caught my attention as I was reading through it.

It was [ **Arte** ], a highly difficult battle technique. Normally, a [Fighter] with at least a bit for talent for magic can master this technique, but there has been cases in which it's the reverse.

Combining magic with physical moves, such as, a melee move with a ranged attack effect. For example, having a beam or shockwave fly out after a sword slash, punching someone from afar with the whirlwind caused by fists, and etc.

On the defensive side, there are things like damage-negating barriers, these are all examples of [ **Arte** ], the fighting techniques mixed with magic.

To put it easily, it's similar to the melee class skills in games, like a certain 16-hit Starburst Stream, or the famous Shoryuken, the physical moves with super cool effects, basically.

SURE U KEN.

I'm getting off topic. Anyway, Melon, in my knowledge has some talent with magic, but although her combatting skills are already powerful, she has never implemented magic into it.

By the way, Melon has never used elemental magic, and other than the Bands of the Bold which grants her additional forces behind her punch through the use of gunpowder I specifically made for her, she only puts mana into enhancing her body, if she learns any [ **Arte** ], she would probably become a lot stronger.

"Melon, you should go to school too."

"Ehh? Master?"

"Yes, go learn."

"Hmm, but... that means I need a tuition fee..."

"It's ok, I'll pay." Whatever, I have 500 gold coins, Wahahaha!

Learning at the Academy costs 15 gold coins every term, which is very expensive for a normal peasant in this world, but I'm an exception.

"Master, wasting money on me like this..."

"Well, don't think like that, consider this an investment in you, when you learn, it also helps me out."

Speaking of which, there're also language arts and math classes in the Academy, and those are compulsory subjects.

But different from my past life, the ratio of academic to physical subjects is 1:4, as expected, battling skills stands above everything else in this world.

"I hope that you can learn some [ **Arte** ], for a [Fighter], it should be an important milestone, right?"

"But... Master, I want to stay by your side to serve you..."

"Ahh, that's not a problem, you can just apply for the non-dorm student status."

Non-dorm students, an unique policy in the Royal Academy.

In this school, some students are poor, so they have to work while studying.

So a solution is this compromise: non-dorm students don't need to live in school dormitories, and their schedule wouldn't be as full, so they have extra time to work or rest.

But these kind of students have a credits threshold, plus they graduate slower because they take less classes, which gives them less credits.

Other than that, this school has a feature very different from my past life, which is that they don't sort classes by age, but credits.

Credits are earned through tests, mock exams, and academic behaviour, advancements occur after an amount of credits are earned. Sixth grade is the highest, and you graduate after that.

So graduation is faster for people with better abilities, and the people who slack off and lacks ability stays in the school longer, and it's common for those people with lacking ability to drop out because of financial problems.

Also, there'll be the credits for the compulsory classes every term, so even if you are very rich, you'll graduate after seven years, which eliminates the possibility of staying forever.

From an educational point of view, this system is very worthy of imitation.

"Hmm, Master, I will try my best to not disappoint you."

So I've decided, before Melon graduates, I'll stay in the Capital. So, I asked Paul to find me a shopfront near the Academy to serve as my residence for the time being, I'll check it out in the future.

Ahh, right, Melon asked me for a favor, which is rare.

"Master, starting from the day after tomorrow, I want to experience what it's like to be an adventurer, can I?"

This is the first time Melon has asked for a leave of absence, so I approved. Hmm, I should prepare potions and supplies for her later.

Today's schedule is very full, I'll leave out the small details, so I'll talk about the potions I intend to sell.

I brought Nita to the [ _Mart Chamber of Commerce_ ], Runi, a member of [Eyes of the Night Cat] works closely with the group, so he was the one to set up the meeting for me, the person I'm seeing is a merchant called Maron.

"If not for Runi working with us, the chairman wouldn't care about you at all, you say that you want to sell potions? Take them to a general store, why come to us?

He seems to have been appointed by the chairman to see me, and he has an impatient "Its a waste of time to be here" look on his face.

Well, my appearance is that of a child's, so I can't blame him.

After I found a private room and used the MPOH(β) on Nita, which made her right leg fully grow back, his expression changed.

While patting Nita's head, I continued conversing with Maron, he immediately asked me a bunch of questions about the contents, ingredients, and such.

"The ingredient is Malbor, and even though it's a rare material, I have a stable source."

"What!? To have a stable source for such rare ingredients... but where..."

* * *

 **MELON POV:**

The royal academy continued to host various tests today. But unlike with Miss Grace, today the test I entered is not for mages, but for Fighter students.

People around me all have armor of all kinds on them. Also, on their waists are melee weapons such as knives, swords or maces. The sounds of these arms and armor clink-clank filled the hair as they moved about.

I came to the Academy because of my master's order. He gave me the tuition fees to let me attend the testing before I go with Miss Mirabella as an adventurer.

The me in the past would never think about these things. Becoming a student and get into the Academy with Miss Grace... something very unfathomable for my past self.

It's been six years since I became Master's slave. In these years, I've grown, with gentle care and happiness surrounding me. I don't know when, but I feel far away from those unpleasant childhood memories, which are already faded.

Because of this, I want to reach Master's expectations. But master wants me to learn [ **Artes** ] to strengthen myself. And he said I can help him more if I get stronger.

What's the proper way to do this? How do I learn Artes?

According to Mr. Marbon, to those robbers who attacked the Village, I could see they have some special magical effects on their weapons during their battles. But I have no clue how to do that.

Right now, I'm sitting on the bench in the corner of the testing field. Waiting for them to call my name.

The rule is easy. On the field, the proctor will call the students one by one, to show their strength. He will grade them over their power and give them the admission to the school or… wash them out of the list.

I'm on the chair, filled with a bit of panic. The people who went before me had all used [ **Artes** ]! Am I the only one who cannot use [ **Artes** ]?

"OOO-OOO-OO-OOO- [Slash of Blazing Flash] ! !"

On the stage, a boy with orange hair and silver armor gathered his strength for a few seconds and moved his sword with a comet-like traces.

"Fire and Light, double attributes sword slashing, not bad!" The proctor in front of the boy is a tall male human.

He is at least six-five (2m) tall, have red and short hair with very defined features, the light clothes on him could not hide his muscular body.

The boy had already used up all of his power for doing that slash, but the proctor only laughed out loud, raised his little round shield, and that attack does nothing to him.

"You put too much of your balance to the front. Though this is just a test, you shouldn't make mistakes like that. Now, Go get your Student ID and start learning." Mr. Proctor smiled at him, wrote some words on the parchment and gave it to him.

"I, I will try my best, Sir Akberv!" The boy looked very excited and ran down the stage.

Mr. Proctor drinks some water from his bottle. At the same time, his assistant brings him a list. He took a peek, and yelled,

"Oi, whoever this 'Melon' is, get up here! It's your turn!"

After a few seconds, when people started murmuring, I finally realized that the name he called was mine.

I don't have time to think. In the next moment, I already came up to the stage. In front of him, he is at least two heads taller than me.

I can feel his strength just by standing in front of him. I know he is strong. Well, probably ten times stronger than the person who leads the robbers in the village…. And that's only what I feel when he's standing over there, completely casual and zero seriousness.

Just like this, ten times stronger than the robber leader already.

"You're Melon?"

"Yes, Mr. Proctor." I gave him a simple salute.

"Alright, Melon. Where is your weapon? You forgot it?" He looked interested to me.

As he said that, a "Pfff" from the audience.

"My weapon shouldn't be used in this situation." I looked in his eye, said very seriously.

Master told me, [The Band of Bold] shouldn't be used if the target is a human. I can only use it in front of people when it's an emergency.

"Oh? So you mean that, this situation does not deserve you to use your weapon?" He raised his eyebrows, and his tone.

"...That's right." I pondered for a moment; that's kind of like what it means.

He laughed, and there was suddenly an uproar below the stage. I started to feel uncomfortable from the audience as they gave me menacing looks.

"Hey, that lizardkin! Don't you know who is in front of you?!"

"Where does she come from? She's so arrogant!"

"That dude was a grade S adventurer, now a military chief leader of the Capital, Sir Akberv!"

What? Is he a very famous guy?

"Hey, you all, shut your mouths up!" He yelled to the audience, and they turn silent immediately, "Melon, what's your specialty?"

"I don't know." Even I was unable to tell what kind of specialty I am.

Master said it seems that there is no one who battles the same way I do. I can't be something as obvious or easily identifiable as Miss Grace, an Elementalist.

The audience who were previously silenced soon started laughing again, people in this field started to focus on me.

"She didn't even know her specialty? What kind of bumpkin is she!" "How are we getting these weirdos for our underclassmen?"

Thanks to my skill [Improved Hearing] I also heard some talking from above. I looked up, and found that there's a small crowd leaning on the wall on the second floor, and looked interested while checking here.

Hmm… Why do I feel hostility everywhere around me? Did I said something wrong?

"Well then, Melon. Just attack me by using your full power," Mr. Akberv said, "If you still remember how to attack."

…

* * *

"What!? That kind of rare herb has a stable source, but where..."

"I'm sorry, the production and the source are both confidential, even though the source is stable, the production isn't too much." Well, I can manage 140 bottles a day at most.

It's produced by me, otherwise I wouldn't say that. Don't think others would be able to produce this much.

"So, want to work together? I happen to still have two bottles left here that you can take back to report. As a meeting gift, I'll take 15 gold coins for a bottle, wanna buy?"

For something that can recover stumps and regrow limbs, it's a very cheap price to pay, I don't know the market price, so I'll throw out a low one. In business, the important thing is to let people get benefits once in a while.

"Good girl." I looked at the Nita in my lap, who is licking my face.

My face is already wet and sticky, but I don't mind a loli's saliva.

Lolis, are wonderful.


	49. Chapter 42: Raid

**Lightning fast update! Don't forget to check out chapter 41 and 42.**

* * *

Melon spaced out for a moment, and after she came back into herself, she noticed that an unnerving quietness surrounded her.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you alright?" Melon lowered her out-stretched fist that she just attacked with, filled with guilt and regret.

The rowdy crowd from before, as well as the upperclassmen from various branches that were spectating, were all hushed.

There was a metallic clatter; *Clink-Clank* *Clink-Clank* *Clink-Clank* as if something metallic was falling apart.

The buckler that the proctor held onto had a hole, and fractures started to spread from the hole, until not only did the magical barrier shatter, but the buckler itself fell to pieces as well.

The proctor, Sir Akberv also found that he had fallen into the spectator seats, and had to shakily raise himself from the ground. Despite being covered in dirt and dust, he was mostly unscathed.

Well, physically, at least. Mentally is another question altogether. His emotion was roiling like a stormy ocean.

He never imagined that slacking off from official work, being a proctor just to escape the monotony of military work, would let him meet someone like this.

This 'test taker' in front of him possesses power that no one present could compare to. Perhaps she was on his level? Maybe not; seeing how she sent him flying with just a punch. This must mean that she... is perhaps on the same level as the princess!?

If it were not for his sharp intuition urging him to immediately activate his high ranked barrier [ **Arte** ] to defend, he might have been... No, if this wasn't just a test and was actual real combat, then he would already be dead.

In just a few seconds, Sir Akberv's mind was raging with multiple thoughts.

Such as: What is this lizardkin's affiliation? Is she affiliated with the seven great nobility? No, that can't be. He himself has never heard of anyone called 'Melon', and even if she was a trump card, none of the factions would be playing her at this moment.

Could she be from the Grella sect? Unlikely, those people are often extremely preachy...

"What is your purpose in coming to this academy?"

"I'm here to learn how to use [ **Arte** ]s, sir proctor."

* * *

After the entrance exam, I successfully received the student certificate, and then the important day that I looked forward to came around.

Following Mr. Gabab's footsteps, Ms. Mirabelle pulled me to the activity area square, which was already filled with many adventurer groups.

"Little Melon, this is your first time joining a raid, be sure to follow us closely." Said Mr. Lawrence.

"Melon is way stronger than you, what do you mean? She technically doesn't need our protection." Ms. Mirabelle's words made me feel a bit embarrassed.

Mr. Gabab walked straight towards an officer wearing bureaucratic clothing, to check in for us. I heard from Ms. Mirabelle that 10 groups are participating in the raid, and there are 5 people in each team. There are also 10 healers, and one is assigned to each group.

"Don't underestimate me, although I know water and wind magic, I'm specialized in light-type magic, after all, I am a priest."

Is that right? I thought she was like Ms. Grace, an elementalist.

...Ms. Grace should be much stronger than these people, right? I'm not sure of the answer to this question, since I don't really know many [Mages].

As for [Fighters], I also haven't really encountered a lot of them, am I considered strong? I'm not completely sure myself, but after the entrance exam, the main instructor told me something like this, "You won't be able to learn what you want in this school."

The main instructor also asked me some questions I didn't really get, like asking for my name again and where I'm from. It's not really a secret, so I answered truthfully.

Ahh, I'm getting off topic, I should just focus on what's in front of me right now.

"Hey, you really not thinking on becoming an adventurer?" Said Ms. Mirabelle, sitting beside the fountain.

Yes, rather than saying I'm experiencing the life of an adventurer, it's more like I'm filling the empty spot in [Eyes of the Night Cat B-team], Ms. Mirabelle says that the team only has four members, and has been missing one more for a long time. If I can help out, it would increase the chance of success.

As for the reason of me joining the raid, it is to prepare a perfect coming-of-age gift for Master. I'll get the money for the gift if I successfully finish the job.

...If it wasn't for the gift, I wouldn't leave Master's side, I am neglecting my duty as a slave by joining the raid.

Even though it's like I'm tricking Master, this is a gift for him, so excuse me for doing so, and I'll apologize to Master later (even though I would probably get praised according to Master's personality).

"I need to serve my Master, please allow me to refuse."

"Well, we already guessed it would be this answer, you can always come here to help out if you want, we welcome you with open arms."

Even though I haven't officially joined this guild, I often visit [Eyes of the Night Cat] because of Master, if Master is a part of the guild, I will also work my hardest for it.

I carefully listen to the surrounding noises, not because of vigilance, but out of curiosity, after receiving the skill [Hearing Enhancement], these things became much easier.

"So, about today's mission. Though the reward is high, the danger is high too, I wouldn't have come if it weren't for the Adventurer's Guild recruiting so tensely."

"Yeah... this is my first time subjugating a dragon."

"According to sighting reports, it should be a two-legged dragon, which is a rare beast, it's said to have a size of a house! Rank B teams like us joining a special A-level raid, it's almost like we're playing with our lives."

"Being an adventurer is already a dangerous job, we really should stop complaining about that."

"Right, I heard the second princess will also participate—"

"Oh? That [Diva of the Wind]?"

There are a lot of gossiping here, but the content is basically the same as what Ms. Mirabelle told me. The goal of this special A level raid mission is to slay the two-legged dragon appearing on the mountain near the Capital.

Adventurers' missions are categorized into two types, "Normal Raids" and "Special Raids".

"Normal Raids" target those mobs that need to be cleaned up once in a while. For example, the periodic goblin raids, slime raids, etc. Master would even give me some slime cores to exchange for money at the guild while I was still living in the secret base. So normal raids are very commonplace, that even non-adventurers are encouraged to help.

These missions can be completed repeatedly, and you see them on the guild board occasionally, the difficulty level rarely goes above D, and C level missions are usually special exceptions.

"Special Raids" are more special missions, normally targeting more special entities, like suddenly appearing monsters, a mutant, a rare monster, etc. The reward is generally higher.

Apart from the earth dragon suddenly appearing near the Capital, the Mountain King near Saddin is also a special raid entity.

I think there was a mass-scale raid like this against the Mountain King twenty years ago.

But the raid took a long time due to the Mountain King's sneaky nature, many assaults has failed, and the raid team even camped in Saddin for a year.

In the end, the crop yields of Saddin couldn't support the raid teams, prices started to rise, and the mission ended in failure.

But the Mountain King has never attacked the village, which meant that his bounty never increased, so no one wants to hunt it any more.

I don't know the qualifications for the team recruitment, but I do know that [Eyes of the Night Cat B-team] was recruited by force.

The total number of people joining the raid, apart from the officers, is 53. 50 of those are people from the teams, and the other 3 are S-rank adventurers.

S-rank adventurers, they sound very powerful, since there are less than ten of those in the country... Other than that, I heard that one of them joining the raid is the princess of this country.

Princess turned adventurer... the "Diva of the Wind"?

While waiting for the announcement, I heard many stories about her.

Singlehandedly defeating an entire group of mobs, the spear in her hands capable of piercing rocks... I wonder if she knows any [ **Arte** ], maybe she can teach me?

And, the person leading the raid, is another S-rank adventurer.

Rowendemay • Jones, also called "Boom-Stick", is a [Mage]... he seems to have been appointed to join the raid by nobles, some people also say that he's supported by nobles.

The voices talking about him are faint, and that's everything I was able to hear.

As for the third S-rank, I don't know. Almost everyone is talking about the second princess, she seems to be very famous.

Continuing to listen to the surrounding gossiping, at last, I heard what I was looking for.

"I don't really like this plan..."

"Sorry, but it can't be helped. We still have to ask you, the second princess, to be the one to explain the plan."

"...Having to listen to that bastard really drives me mad."

Listening to these words, someone walked up the stairs.

The crowd quieted down.

"Fellow acquaintances, nice to meet you. I, the second princess of Tegittan, will now explain the plan to all of you."

Immediately after that, the second princess presented the part of the plan I am most untrusting of.

This plan — is undoubtedly a one-sided pact.

* * *

 **PS: The part where Melon sent the proctor flying was supposed to be in chapter 41, but due to some archiving error, it ended up here. But I don't think it made a lot of difference. Enjoy!**


	50. Chapter 43: A House

I'm lying on the chair, looking like a zombie, and I'm starting to feel a little regretful about letting Melon go to school now.

Remember that I said that I've rent a store near the Academy? Today is its the first day of its opening. It's right next to the school area, in other words, it's at the edge of the residential area.

Alright, when back to the Earth, what do people like to sell near schools?

-The answer is, FOOD!

During break time, the students can either eat in the cafeteria or hang out around the Academy.

Of course, stores can't just 'open' and expect the business to survive, strategizing is required. The food at the Academy is actually not bad, so if you want to have a restaurant there, you'll want to sell food that can lure students away from the cafeteria.

There are thousands of students in the Academy, and the maximum capacity of the cafeteria only hold up to 10% of the students for one lunchtime. So nearby restaurants are important, but that also means I'll have to compete with others.

That's why I'm selling my marinated meat/bacon, made with all kinds of rare spices! By the way, in this world, meat and spices are still counted as luxuries, so these will definitely sell. Ehehehehe.

The smell from the roasted meat had always been the favorite thing during mealtimes amongst our group.

But, I raised the price a little because the Academy is full of rich students. When you run a store, it's important to decide what kind of customer you want to hold on to. But looking at the regular prices of meat and spices, my price is really too cheap in comparison.

As a result, my restaurant is full of people right after I started cooking.

My level is 33, even though I don't have as much endurance as Melon, but it is enough as a Commoner. Plus, it's been really easy to produce food by using my Minecraft skill… But now my muscles are SORE! The customers simply were that numerous.

...Alright, a set of roasted meat cuts is one silver and 50 copper. Just in one day, I got 10 gold, deduct the costs (which is basically nothing), I have gained 10 gold total.

Somewhere around 600 roasted meat cuts were sold. But that's too tiring. Maybe I should set a limit, like 200 sets per day.

I can already afford Melon's tuition fee within only two days of work. I think I have created a money-making monster... Running a restaurant seems pretty fitting for me right now. But without Melon, I can't do it just by myself or I'll work myself to death.

Today, after I closed the restaurant, I went to [Mart Chamber of Commerce] again. And the chairman was startled by my tired appearance.

I like to finish all the work as soon as it begins, so my schedule is very full these days… It's kinda rude to do business with others in this look, but I'm only here to sign a contract.

I'll sell them a bottle of MPOH Beta, plus 10 bottles of the diluted version per month for a year. Maybe I'll think about contract renewal later because I still don't want to sell that many potions.

I didn't tell them those 10 potions were diluted, of course, just stated that they were of lower quality. Letting them think that it's not easy to produce potions that can heal mutilations. Looks like they've analyzed those two bottles I gave to Maron, that's why they're so interested.

With this contract, I can get 500 gold per month… I can't carry this much money on me, so I need to make a bank account.

Banks are really cool in this world. They use some sort of magic to confirm your identity when withdrawing money. There is no chance for those fake identity scams, so your money is truly safe.

It'll be better if there are bills/paper money. But what a pity, this world is not that modern.

After all these things, I got back to the restaurant. In the dark of the night, there are only lamps to guide me back. By the way, I live in the restaurant. On the second floor and above.

Only the first floor is been used for a restaurant. We live on the second and third floor.

There are rooms for me, Melon, and Grace... Grace, might come here often... maybe? I don't want to think about the answer. Maybe I'm hoping for something, but that's ridiculous.

I made the bathroom a little bigger, and there's a redstone heating system, so it's fine to just bathe in here without going to the public baths.

Redstone powering systems, training room, potion brewery, and plant cultivation room… I spent a whole day to upgrade this house to the level as "high-tech" as the secret base used to be.

And I have a space for Rifle near the door, so he can become a Watchdog(Watchwolf?) when the restaurant is open. This is why I gave the name "Dog House" to the restaurant.

In short, Melon had left for two days now, I upgraded the house on the first day and started working on the second day. I didn't have time to have a break at all.

Even now, at night, I'm still busy.

Because... Grace has got a new friend. She brought her to the [Dog House], asked me to made her a meal, and repair a weapon.

* * *

In the night, at the [Dog House], indoors.

"This is our signature meal, enjoy." I served her a fried hamburger steak, "How's the Brandy? Is it to your satisfaction?"

"It's really good, thanks for having me, Walson." She is an elven girl with Curly Blond hair.

She has clear-cut facial features. Elegant, but with signs of temperament and bearing of nobility. You can also see some... naughty feelings from her eyes, the look of prank schemer.

Oh, by the way, her breasts are approximately D+ Cup, Melon's melons have been surpassed.

Her name is Aurevia.

Well, as a gentleman, when a beautiful girl is in front of me, I shall serve her with great wine... And I feel oh-so-regretful now. After a few glasses of wine, I found out this woman is really good with alcohol.

When I got back here, Grace had already entered the closed DogHouse.

Looks like they're busy with all sorts of procedures in the school, so Grace and Aurevira didn't have dinner, but every restaurant is closed, so Grace brought her to me.

How did she know that I'm running a restaurant….? Oh, maybe she heard the rumors. Because the DogHouse had already gotten very popular on its first day opening.

"...Walson, this is my friend, Aure. Feed us, and repair her weapon, now." I was lying on the armchair tiredly when Grace just came in and ordered me straight up.

I'm not really happy about Grace talking to me with this attitude, but she looks to be in a very bad mood, so I did what she said. It's not really a big deal, anyway.

I served them the meal and with wine, of course, wine is for Aurevia specifically. Grace doesn't like wine.

When I started to drink wine with Aurevia, she just sat there watching us drinking quietly….Hmm, maybe our relationship hasn't gone that bad?

Even though I want to talk to her, to fix our problems, I still didn't do it, because there is another person - an unfamiliar person - here.

\- Okay, the topic has strayed too far, now back on this elven girl.

She looks polite like a lady. But has a really straightforward personality and unquenchable desire for alcohol. I'm getting drunk just by few glasses, so I surrendered and let her drink by herself.

"There's a saying that goes 'You make friends through wine,' so do we count as friends now?" After a WHOLE BARREL of Brandy - Oh boy can she drink, she still looks fine, and I feel her taunting smile, mocking at my low drinking capacity.

For your information, these Brandy are my test brews - moonshines, basically. The actual amount of alcohol is much higher than regular Brandy!

This girl is _bad_ bad. A bad girl, bad girl. Alright, the name Aurevira is too troublesome, I'll call her "Barrella".

"Yes, we're friends Barella. You're a Barrel of a girl."

"You're so rude! What kind of person talks to a lady like this? This name makes me feel like I'm fat."

"What kind of 'lady' drinks a whole barrel of Brandy?!"

Maybe she was right, you become friends after drinking with them. We even come into a relationship that we can quarrel with each other, she acts just like a man.

I didn't say it out loud, but I only pretended to despise her. And our strange little meeting of three had finally come to an end. It's midnight already.

"Take it, this is your bow," Before they left, I returned the weapon that Grace want me to repair back to Barrella.

This is a bow with medium-level quality, and it was broken very badly. When you say a bow is "broken," it usually means that the bowstring is broken. But this bow had literally became two broken sticks.

I thought every elf should have a his/her own "Elven Weapon." Like the [Elvenized] staff Mirabella has. This bow clearly doesn't look like an Elven weapon… Whatever, it's not my business.

I used some better ingredients to repair the weapon. Even though it's still not comparable to my [Apollo], the bow is still better than what it was before.

"W-when did you fix that?! Within this short amount of time? I thought it should take a few days..." Barrella looked shocked, she stares at her better-than-new bow.

"Trade secret," I said.

With my Minecraft abilities, I can repair anything in just a few seconds.

"Good night, Grace," I said, before Grace left with Barrella.

"...Good night, Walson," Grace hesitated, and replied in kind.

It will be great if that can fix our relationship a little. Alright, time to prepare things for tomorrow's opening.

* * *

After that, Barrella had come to the DogHouse very often. Sometimes she even came without Grace and smooched off me for some meals, but it's another story.

After they left, the whole building had gone very quiet, different than in the morning.

My neck and shoulders are so sore after these days of working, if there's a place that can let me relax… Oh! I remember that the people of [Mart Chamber of Commerce] have invited me to go to the red light district with them, to celebrate the success of making the contract.

You guys know what red light districts do, right? No? Well... it's a place where you can get _massages_ from pretty girls.

...But I'm not fifteen yet, so I probably can't get other services rather than actual real massages.

…

…

…

Later on, I have no idea how did Grace found out, but she beat me up for going to the red light district.


	51. Chapter 44: Dragon Raid

"Greetings, y'all! I, the second princess o' Teggitan, am now gonna explain the raid details."

The female that walked onstage looks about twenty, and has a height of 170cm. Her long silver hair is tied into a ponytail.

Covering her right eye is a leather eyepatch, and her left eye is a beautiful azure. She wore black, light clothing beneath a brown jacket, and boots paired with brown pants.

This kind of casual clothing is very recognizable in the crowd of fully _armored_ adventurers, as it's unsuitable for battle, only a novice would dress like this... but my instincts

tell me that this princess isn't someone to be messed with.

After coming onstage, the second princess addressed the part of the plan I'm most untrusting of. This battle plan — is undoubtedly a one-sided pact.

"We only require y'all to..." She frowned upon speaking.

"Excuse me, my princess, I'm the commander this time, let me do the explaining."

A middle-aged man wearing an elegant purple robe walked upstage, his black hair combed neatly as if he's showing off his own value to the world.

"...You should ha' came up if you were already her', I don't get wha' you're thinkin'." The Princess that stood briefly on stage was soon jumping off it, complaining in a cold tone.

Rowendemay, the commander of this mission, specializes in creating stone projectiles using earth-type magic, and is a S-rank adventurer nicknamed "Booming Rock"... butto be honest, I've never heard of him.

Of course, It's because I lived in a remote area where news often doesn't reach. As an S-rank, there should be a lot of public information available.

"This, is the vice commander of the raid, Philip Rex, also an S-rank. Coming from the distinguished Rex family, he has knowledge of advanced level fire magic, and with a specialty of "Magic Swordsman", he is truly a genius of geniuses!"

"All of you will cover us during the raid, that is the purpose of recruiting you. Listen to our commands at all times, I believe none of you want to defy a noble."

It was a young man with golden hair who said that. The armor he wears is more splendid than Rowendemay's robe, shining a silver color with golden outlines, along with many kinds of jewelry.

...Isn't this a bit too conspicuous for battle?

The plan is quite strange, the adventurer groups are in charge of holding the mobs down, and the real offense is dealt by the S-ranks.

The contract emphasized the things above, and also included that we should obey the commanders no matter what.

...It is because of the contents of the contract that I think this is an one-sided pact.

It's not like there aren't any rewards other than the distribution of materials based on each groups' damage output, but the B-rank adventurer are paid only 5 gold coins each for defeating A-rank salamanders. I personally do not think it fair.

And about the damage output? It's not written in detail on the contract, but it says that the commander can determine it subjectively. Plus the contract says the groups are in charge of holding the mobs down, and the damage is to be dealt by the S-ranks.

Doesn't that mean the groups can't get the drops from the mobs? Plus, calling B-ranks adventurers to raid A-rank targets is underestimating the enemy according to my knowledge of demi-dragons.

It was a miner from a mine 12 kilometers west of the Capital who entrusted this mission, the reason being they dug out a sleeping demi-dragon, and that it destroyed the mine when it woke up. From the report, it appears to be a Salamander, a type of demi-dragon.

Unlike the flying creatures of disaster Master described, Ms. Mirabelle told me that the dragons commonly referred to are actually demi-dragons. There are many different species, each has its own unique habitat, and they are considered as magical beasts. I've encountered one before when I was living in the forest.

About the flying creatures of disaster, those are the actual dragon species, they possess long lifespans, high intellect, and natural magical powers. It's just that they are rarely seen or discovered, and have become creatures of myth since a long time ago.

...How powerful would those kinds of things be? Normal demi-dragons are rare and powerful already, and judging by general stats, they would be able to hold their own against powerful magical beasts. I barely escaped the last encounter with one, but this time, I came prepared.

I wouldn't leave Master's side normally, but I needed to prepare a gift for his coming of age.

Defeating these kinds of powerful beasts should earn me some nice materials and rewards, so for that reason, I had to participate.

It wasn't the royal family or the adventurer's guild that sent the recruitment request, but the nobles.

... I accepted the request without thinking much, and I only saw the contract this morning... with contents like that, I may not get the rewards, so I'll have to think of another solution.

I hope to get materials from the Salamander, find a blacksmith, and make those into accessories or armor... maybe I could give Master a dagger.

In my hometown's culture and customs, we gift daggers to celebrate coming of age.

One reason is due to the dangers of the jungle, and another is for hoping that they could become an outstanding warrior, and it slowly turned into wishing for someone to have great achievements.

With that in mind, we arrived at the target location on the report in horse carriages.

However, I couldn't control my emotions as I was still feeling suspicious when I started to battle.

...

...  
Sien Mine, the place where the event took place — is now no more than broken buildings and rubble, the miners have also been evacuated by the adventurers' guild, so the place seemed very lonely.

"oooo,oooo,oooo — [Rock Burst]!"

"[Slashing Flames]!"

Being attacked by falling rocks and continuous burning slashes, the scarlet-scaled lizard let out a roar of rage. It struggled by swaying its body, trying to break free, but to no avail.

The adventurers formed four groups and pulled each of the Salamander's limbs with a special rope. Meanwhile, all kinds of magic hits the Salamander, restricting its movement while blocking its vision, at last, the 7 meters long Salamander fell to the ground, giving one last howl.

The adventurers surrounded the corpse and cheered, as the raid went very smoothly.

Amidst the cheering, Mirabelle found Melon wandering around by herself.

This was Melon's first experience as an adventurer, and even though the rewards may be sparse, it was good that the raid ended successfully, though there's nothing to complain about for getting paid by doing some easy work.

About the Salamander's drops, anyone could see that the contract is one-sided, and that the main operators are nobles, so the materials should be what they're going after.

Its a pity, since Melon has a huge interest in these materials, but it's not a bright idea to upset nobles for materials that could be found another day.

"It's good that there's not much danger, right, Melon?" Mirabelle went to comfort Melon, only to find her going through the ruins, trying to find something.

She looks upset.

"Melon, take it easy, there's always a next time to get the materials..." As an elder, Mirabelle felt obliged and responsible to lecture Melon.

"It's not that, Ms. Mirabelle." However, Melon interrupted her right away, "Has none of you realized? The scent in the air... and so many vibrations...!"

Melon was still in a state ready for battle, right now, she looks very tense, while looking around and smelling the smell in the air.

Mirabelle wanted to calm her down, but after seeing the place Melon was standing, her expression changed.

After the ruins were cleared away, a gigantic reptile footprint appeared! The foot itself is even bigger than an entire Salamander!

Is this... an appropriate size for a demi-dragon? In that moment, the question appeared in Mirabelle's mind.

There was a myth saying that some dragons live together with demi-dragons, which act as the dragons' servants...

Mirabelle didn't dare to keep thinking, no, it should be that the situation didn't allow her to keep thinking, because the ruckus awakened something unimaginable.

The ground shakes and quakes!

There came a shriek from the crowd, dust flew in the wind, and the ground fell apart! At the same time, roars of anger continuously to echo, then, numerous Salamanders came out of the holes and trampled over the crowd.

These Salamanders doesn't look like they're going to attack the adventurers, they seem rather nervous for a change.

A scared Salamander charged in the direction of Melon and Mirabelle, but was stopped before being able to tackle them.

Because, the squished creature couldn't crawl anymore, as a giant claw came out from the dust and stomped the many Salamanders flat.

A figure as huge as a small mountain emerged from the ground along with the crowds' cries  
"HOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

"Monster!" Even Melon, who had monstrous beasts as neighbors for years in the Jungle of Nakula, could not help but get frightened when she met this creature!

Its body stretched more than 40 meters from its three massive horns to the end of its fat tail. Its bulk was as enormous as a hill and was covered by thick mossy scales. It caused a frightening earthquake every time it lays a foot on the ground.

It's a dragon! An actual dragon! Who could have imagined that such a being lived right down in a mineshaft that was merely a few miles away from the capital!?

The unexpected threat forced the expedition of approximately fifty members to give up their formation. Half of them were trapped in the dents that the dragon made when it crawled out from the ground. The rest of them attempted to escape from the awakened monster and the massive amount of scattered salamanders. But no opportunity was available in the ruckus.

When the dragon gave a harsh roar, the situation went from bad to worse, for all the salamanders suddenly stopped running randomly and turned to charge at the adventurers as if they have received an order!

"Dammit! What the bloody hell is that!?"

"Wahhhh! Ahhhhhhhhh!"

"Help me! Help!"

A salamander was about to bite an adventurer when a green ray of light dropped right through its head and stamped it upon the ground! Next to the glowing spear stood a lithe, handsome, confident figure with floating white hair.

"Oh! Goddess-have-mercy, my princess!"

"Run! Do y'all want to become their dinner?" replied the princess without turning her gaze away from the enemies. Then she pulled out her spear immediately and dashed toward another salamander.

Meanwhile, Melon was dodging the stampeding salamanders, grabbing Gabab and Lawrence in her hands, escaping the chaotic battlefield as fast as she could.

"Stay here," said Melon tersely to the team of four when she successfully brought the original four members together, "I'll try to snatch some other guys out." Then she left them and returned to the battlefield.

"What a horrible mess," she thought. Comparing to her own experience of hunting boss monsters in Nakula, which always took her several days to track and to make plans, the situation down in this mineshaft was undoubtedly a desperate one. The dragon is much mightier, and it appeared so suddenly. She would definitely give up and withdraw right away—if people didn't keep dying!

The white-hair princess also found the crisis hard to solve. She was rushing here and there with her spear, killing five salamanders in a row. She frowned and clicked her tongue as she saw the surface of her spear cracking due to repeated mana pulses rushing through it, wearing down it's durability.

In this "picnic" expedition being so close to the king's castle, she was included as a backup help. Nevertheless, a gigantic dragon, which appeared to be able to control salamanders, was far beyond her ability. Since it would be unreasonable to expect these B-rank adventurers to hunt down the dragon, she pondered whether she should stay to cover the others' retreat. However, even when she halted for considering, the dragon seemed to notice her moves, and consequently, lots of salamanders charged at her and blocked her way.

Some adventurers formed small groups to cover each other and withdraw gradually until they heard Philip Rex yelling at them: "Remain at your positions and pin those salamanders down at where they are! Dare you hedge-borns forget about your contract with me and challenge the Rex family?" Hearing the irrational command of the young nobleman, the expedition members exchanged looks and hence saw each other pulling a long face.

"That's right, Sir! With the reputation for killing a dragon, you will surely replace your elder brother as the heir!" spoke Rowendemay loud enough that everyone could hear.

"Alright!" added Philip, "I, as the heir of Rex, WILL award you all when this ends! Now, forward! Cover me!"

At Rowendemay's flattering words, Philip even started to daydream. Once the dragon is killed, he would become a hero for people as well as the heir of the family. What's more, the dragon's body itself was indeed a treasure: dragon bones and scales were some of the most invaluable and the rarest materials. What a bright, beautiful future just over there!

"That moronic IDIOT!" cried the princess. She knew that she must reach Philip to prevent him from leading a mass suicide, but she just could not get rid of the salamanders!

At the same time, she saw a salamander "flew" toward the adventurers and crashed upon Rowendemay and Philip. The crash was so powerful that the former blacked out, while the latter was significantly injured and spat a mouthful of blood.

…

…

…

*Dakka Dakka*

The Insignificant sound of bullets being loaded.

The lizardkin girl landed in front of the confused adventurers with her "Bands of the Bold" equipped on her limbs and well-charged with gunpowder and ammunition.

"Sorry, my Master. You told me not to use your 'Bands of the Bold' in public, and thus I always avoid growing depending on usage of any weapon. But still, I have to use it right now, for there is no other way to make a breakthrough." While she confessed in silent, she made a few steps toward the dragon and the salamanders. Then she whispered the name of the only magic skill she had: "[Physical Reinforcement]."

She learned this basic-level skill when she was 11. Though the effect was modest, she certainly understood that it was her only talent that she could depend on. Thus she not only practiced it repeatedly but tried to advance beyond its limit. On a particular day, she felt some essential change in her body. Since she could not explain much about the difference, she could only wish that it might help her.

"You, lizard ..., obey ... my order ...," lying on the ground, Philip demanded with a shivering tone and unbelieving eyes.

Melon ignored him and focused on the growling dragon. She lowered her position, raised her hands before her chest, and slightly bent her fingers inward. While she examined the battlefield and waited for the best moment to strike, her skin generated some white, faint wisps of smoke!

 _"I forgot a basic fact, that I never have to obey THAT IDIOT, or anyone else,"_ Thought Melon.

"For I am a slave of my Master, before only whom I kneel and obey."


	52. Chapter 45: Dragon Breath

The dragon raises its foot, roars angrily, and slams it on the ground!

And Melon, who is getting around the battlefield by making steps in the air - as if mid-air is just another surface like the earth. She turns around, towards the dragon's waist with high speed, her fist smashing into the dragon with smells of gunpowders filling the air.

KABOOM! The dragon is on fire!

"Heat up… and then…" Melon murmured, there are some smoke around her body. She steps up and thrusts again while simultaneously firing more and more gunpowder.

She already chucked her boots off, the scales on her feet shines purple, the unique color from the enchanted items in Minecraft.

"Cool down!" On the same spot, a kick onto the dragon's waist!

Because the scales are enchanted with [Frost Walker], the ice starts to cover the dragon's body en masse.

Accompanied by the sound of multiple things breaking apart, Melon just broke its thick dragon scale with her powerful attack! The thrusts and the explosive recoil made her attack go deeper, and finally deals direct damage to the dragon!

The sudden heat and cold managed to make the dragon's scale brittle.

The dragon roared out in pain and stepped back. This huge monster the size of the mountain just got knocked back by Melon, only with her fists and feet!

The white-haired princess with a spear is watching all these with shock, surprisingly so are those salamanders, they who should be attacking her are all frozen in shock.

 _WHO IS SHE?_ The princess had never seen anyone fight in this way. She is surprised that a person that strong is in the raid.

No one had ever fought monsters with only fists...! This is totally unheard of. She tried to remember every S-Grade adventurers in her country, but no one ever fights in this way.

Back to Melon, she is now moving around the dragon, and making holes on its body! No matter how the dragon struggled and tried to shake her off with by swinging its claws, biting with its jaws, or smashing with its tail, it still can't stop her.

Flames and ice rose and fell on its body, the punches of fire and kicks of ice landed over and over again. The dragon's scales are badly damaged, with blood everywhere on its body.

"HOAAAAAAA!" The dragon roars, and decided to twist it's head around to chase Melon.

Melon thrusts herself in the midair with the explosive recoil of [The Bands of the Bold]. She had completely attracted the dragon's attention away from those adventurers!

 _Alright, now I just have to bring it far enough to buy them some time for their escape!_

Melon is analysing every part of its dragon, while dodging from the dragon's attack.

It has scales that are thick and huge, a jaw that can break rocks easily, some giant claws on front feet, and two strange bone plates on the back, maybe they were wings few generations ago?

If it can't fly, and having these body structures, then it must be very good at digging!

Also, it is huge, with high strength. But unlike than those boss monsters in the forest, it is very slow.

It doesn't resemble the dragons in the stories, which are said to be very smart and cunning, but this dragon is like a crazy beast. She has no idea why it's lacking intelligence, but this fact would undoubtedly help her in this battle.

Unfortunately, even though Melon can deal damage, it still can chase her like nothing happened to it. If Melon can't find its weak spot, she will just be wasting her strength and bullets.

 _Master only gave me 6 stacks of bullets, 16 magazines per stacks, which means there are only 96 magazines I can use._

96 magazines, with 100 bullets in each, so there are 9600 bullets in total. Every step I made in midair costs one bullet, attacks cost 10, and the Bands of the Bold on my hands and legs all need bullets… I've already used up 5 of my magazines from those attacks.

Ordinarily, as long as Melon is using her [Bands of the Bold], the boss monsters in the forest would quickly drop dead; she has never seen anything that can withstand five magazine's worth of damage and still survive!

 _I shouldn't have picked a fight with this kind of monster without proper planning. So right now I should keep this dragon as far as I can from the adventurers, and leave after they all escaped!_ Melon decided.

At the same time, The dragon raises its claws, and slammed down on Melon!

In this moment, Melon feels like the dragon is smiling!

Bullet boosts her momentum, Melon made a double jump, and dodged the attack. But different from a normal claw attack, a giant, yellow magic circle appears as its claws slams into the ground!

"Magic!" Melon was surprised. The spell had made a giant sandstorm, obstructing her vision, and blew Melon away.

While stuck in this sandstorm, Melon can't see anything. So she use two magazines at once to make a large enough boost and get out of the sandstorm!

After she landed, the dragon was gone!

With her sharp hearing and improved senses from her skills, Melon heard some sound from underground, and that sound is moving towards those retreating adventurers very quickly!

 _I was too careless!_

 _This is bad, the dragon was unexpectedly cunning. It actually got me chasing after it instead!_ Melon tried to chase it, but the digging dragon is way faster than on the ground!

If she can't hold this dragon in place, there is no chance that the others can escape!

At the other side, there are fewer salamanders now, plus the dragon was pulled away, The white-haired princess's work is getting easier as there was less pressure.

By the time she starts covering the adventurers, the ground rumbles, and a hole appears!

In the flying sand and rocks, the dragon attacks towards the princess!

"[Storm Thrust]!" The princess threw her spear, covered with blue lights, towards its chest without hesitation!

The spear exploded, the powerful mana wave made the dragon stumble back a little, but it soon attacks again.

This time, there is no weapon she can use to defend now!

However, thanks to that attack, she had bought enough time for Melon to get here. Melon's attack came from the sky, landing a heavy punch on the dragon's head from the back. That unbalanced the dragon enough to make the attack miss.

With a roll to shunt off the momentum from Melon's punch, the dragon quickly whirls around, facing Melon, and opened its mouth.

Huge amount of mana starts to gather in its mouth. In this moment, Melon have nowhere to dodge this.

 _A breath attack!_

The dragon breath, like a beam of light, went straight upward and lit up the entire cave!

When it gradually dimmed, the entire cave quieted down. No sound was left except the wind.

The dragon turned around in satisfaction and readjusted its posture. It glanced over the stunned adventurers, with an almost human-like arrogance and satire in its eyes.

A scream from... someone, breaking the silence, became the last straw for the adventurers. Terror swept away the remaining reasoning in their mind and they panicked

Philip Rex and Rowendemay became de facto of the running sheeple, for they ran faster than anyone else.

The white-hair princess stayed at her position against the colossal dragon. Even with no weapon in her hand, she had no intention to flee, for she knew that to turn her back on the dragon is to give up the lives of the folks behind her.

Therefore, although making this last stand for the people would cost her her life, she would take this responsibility as a royalty.

The strange mix of Blue and Green colored wind-type mana circulated around her body, and she raised her fists up to her chest.

Though she knew that her fists couldn't do as good as the lizard girl, she would do her best to save some lives. Any single one counts.

Seeing the princess making her stand, the dragon raised a foot in disdain and dropped it against her. Suddenly, before they touched each other, a figure jumped in and blocked the giant limb with an explosion!

"Your opponent ... should be me!"

Melon landed and soon stood up. The [Band of the Bold] was reloaded as it generated some daka-daka cracking sounds. She turned her body to the monster with her preparation stance.

The dragon breath was so close to her that she used four cartridges on acceleration just to avoid being hit.

Nonetheless, escape by such a manner overloaded Melon's body, dealing massive recoil damage. She felt pain everywhere in her body and found it difficult to stay conscious enough to keep her [Physical Reinforcement] in effect.

She regretted underestimating her opponent.

Fortunately, she also figured out the dragon's weakness.

"HOAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The dragon roared in anger, for it saw an annoying fly that should have been eliminated reappeared in its sight.

The dragon did not hesitate to throw its claw against Melon, and Melon disappeared in a burst of ice, flame, and gravels!

She felt her fist growing heavy as it hit the dragon. Iron dummies and boss monsters were as light as feathers compared to the dragon.

Her wrist hurt as if it was burning, while the monster in front of her remained physically unshakable like a mountain.

 _Why? Why am I standing here?_ asked Melon herself.

The glow of the dragon breath blinded her.

Melon swings her fist instinctively, continuously...

*BOOM*

That uppercut punch resulted in a blast at the dragon's jaw and slanted the dragon breath up. However, Melon's hand made some cracking noise as if her body was crying in protest.

Melon found her mind separated from her body. She started to detachedly "observe" her own movements as if she was not controlling it.

In Melon's view, she unhesitatingly continued using the [Band of the Bold], which her master told her to try not to use.

 _What makes me fight this nightmarish creature even if I have to go against Master's will?_ asked Melon again.

She "saw" herself bypassing another claw swipe while accelerating, spinning in the air, and ending up with her right foot thrown upon the dragon's head.

This made its skin frozen. And then a blazing punch landed!

Heat and cold —and hence cracking!

However, the dragon countered by sweeping its tail at Melon, managing to land a powerful blow on her.

 _It hurts._

 _Why do I keep fighting even if it hurts so much? Why?_

Such questions had remained unanswered since the very evening when Melon had her fists dancing crazily with the indefinite number of monsters in the forest.

She was asking the same question then, while she let her arms move mechanically all alone in the jungle of monsters.

But this time, when she was hit into the air by the dragon's tail, she noticed the frightened crowd looking at her. She started to realize something...

 _Ah ... could THAT be my reason?_

 _If THAT's my motivation, everything is surely explained._

Again the dragon opened its mouth and gather mana toward its throat. Melon dodged by using another four cartridges without worrying about the load added on her body.

She kept swinging her injured fists and felt confidence from the smell of blood.

"I can do it."

She shut the dragon's mouth with a rising kick at its jaw, trapping the upcoming dragon breath inside.

She landed beside the dragon, bent her limbs, and held herself on the ground. Her next target was the neck, which was covered with the dragon's tiniest scales and was exposed whenever the dragon habitually lifted its head.

"What am I fighting for?"

Melon held her fists tight and was prepared to bring the fight to an end.

"Those people, their eyes filled with fear... Just like me in... that fateful night."

"Just like today, surrounded by darkness and monsters."

"Under the greedy eyes of wolves, there was a man, who blocked the wolf king's flame and saved me."

All the cartridges exploded at once! They turned Melon into a shooting star!

"I was weak, but then I have changed."

"I wish—I wish to be like you."

A pair of fists full of faith—unbreakable.

Unbreakable—thus unstoppable.

Splattering blood blocked Melon's view, then she penetrated through the neck as she expected.

"So, why do I do this?"

"For I want to reach you, so that I may stand beside you—that's all—my good, beloved master."


	53. Chapter 45-2: Party, Lamia, and Princess

—(Melon's point of view)—  
It is nightfall.

After the battle ended, many adventurers had a party around the campfire at the raid site.

There were bards singing about the heroes, people drinking wine sent in by the support & supply group... with my enhanced hearing, I could tell that there were also many celebrating their survival.

"This meat! This is the best I've ever eaten!"

"For this meat, I would gladly spend all of my savings!"

The errand boy wearing a red headband cut the meat on the campfire into pieces and gave it to the adventurers, which caused a commotion.

"I can't help it, this is the invaluable dragon meat! It's a super rare ingredient that permanently strengthens the body!"

With such an ingredient, the adventurers seemed even more excited, and are chatting in a quite lively manner.

I sat alone in the tent, feeling a bit distracted by what's going on outside.

Hmm, everyone still seems energetic, this is great.

"Something like dragon meat can sell for a high price... just giving it out seems like a waste, I don't get you sometimes, sister." At this moment, the curtains are pulled aside, and someone "slid" in.

Looking at the arrival, she has long curly brown hair, wears a white uniform accompanied by a leather vest, the attire of a service person. Or should I say half the attire... under the shirt aren't legs, but a huge snake tail covered in blue scales.

The Lamia race! Compared to the lizard people, this demi-human race is much rarer, I've only heard Ms. Mirabelle mention them once, and this is my first time seeing one.

"I believe that there's nothing more comforting than delicious food." I stood up and saluted, "Plus, when taking its shelf life into consideration, eating it as soon as possible is making the most of it."

"How generous, nice to meet you, my name is Alice, and I'm the No.7 service attendant in the adventurer's guild."

"Melon Lizsar."

Hmm... I tried adding titles after my name, but it's not really possible saying something like "I'm my master's slave."

Master once said that he's my carriage driver when in public, but... how am I going to convey something like this?

"Hah! Alice, where are ya, didn't ya say we're goin' to greet the lizard gal together... Ahh? You're already talkin'?" Suddenly, the curtains on the tent are pulled aside again.

A white-haired girl ran in, holding a wooden bucket and a bunch of dragon meat entered.

Ah, it's the second princess!

"Greetings, second princess."

"Ehh? Don't be so formal to me, I woulda been dead without ya!" My polite gestures seemed to have made the seconds princess confused, so she helped me up from the formal kneel and said, "Reisa, just call me Reisa."

"...Yes, Ms. Reisa."

Calling by name is too informal, so I chose this at last.

"Come h're, let me introduce her. This is my personal attendant, Alice, who came w'th the backup group ta' help w'th cleanin' up." Ms. Reisa said as she pulled Ms. Alice next to her.

"Oi, wash your hands after eating meat! I just bought these clothes!"

Ms. Alice seems to not care about the difference in status, and scolded Ms. Reisa intensely.

Ehh!? Is it alright to talk to a princess like this!?

"Does it matter? We're friends!"

"Don't, touch, me, with, your, greasy, hands!"

Looking at what's happening in front of me, I suddenly don't know what to say.

The princess... seems a bit different from what I imagined...

"Umm, what does cleaning up mean..." At last, I was able to say something suitable.

"Ahh, that. Mainly reporting what happened, like recording the status, counting the total loot, and the death toll." Ms. Alice stopped pinching Ms. Reisa's cheeks and said.

"Death toll...! E-Excuse me, is there a lot of causalities?"

"Four confirmed deaths, two missing, thirty-two injured... hmm, I'll need to contact their families later, that's also my job, how troublesome."

"S-Sorry." I suddenly felt a bit down after hearing that.

If I had noticed the dragon earlier and warned them, there might not be any deaths...

"There's no need to blame yourself, this is what being an adventurer is about, trading their life for money. In the worst case, we can't even find their bodies." Alice stretched her hand and patted my shoulders.

"...Yes."

"These people have made up their minds when they first picked up their weapons and accepted the deal. Come now, tell me more about yourself! I've seen larger death tolls, but the sacrifice is minimum when considering that we're up against a dragon, this is all thanks to you."

...Ahh, yeah, that's right.

Even though it's a pity I couldn't save more people, I tried my best.

"I understand now, Ms. Alice." I said.

I'm still lacking, so I'll need to become stronger to be like Master back then, to be a hero.

"Aha, let's not talk about this anymore, let's discuss some fun stuff, like this, the list of loot! This is loot from the ground dragon, isn't it exciting!"

"Ground dragon?"

"It's the dragon you slew! It has been two centuries since the last sighting was recorded, and dragons are hard to find nowadays, so their loot is even rarer!"

Ms. Alice handed the notebook to me, and despite me not knowing too many words, I still made sense of the things on the list.

Two pieces of dragon crystal, one piece of dragon reverse scale(1), dragon bones, dragon spine, a great amount of dragon scale and dragon meat...

"From these things, how much can I take?" I raised my head and asked.

"Although I want to let you take everything," Ms. Alice replied, "the contract says that part of the loot must be given to the guild. We can't change that, but you are free to take the most valuable parts."

"Out of these, which are the most valuable?" I nodded and asked.

"The dragon crystals and the dragon's reverse scale of course! Using dragon crystals to make staffs can greatly increase the mana capacity. Although the dragon reverse scale aren't as effective in increasing mana capacity, they are very suitable for making melee weapons. By the way, according to the ancient texts, these materials have dragon souls residing in them, and the user can execute strong magic or skills through them."

"As for the bones and spine... it could sell for a lot, but considering that this is just a 'child' dragon and that it suffered great damage in battle, hmm... you can't make armor out of it, but idiotic rich people would buy them to use as building materials."

"The meat is valuable whether you eat it yourself or sell it, but the decision should be quick as they expire fast." Ms. Alice stopped for a while, then said, "I recommend that you take the crystals, the reverse scales, and all of the meat."

"Then... what about the claws?" I look at the list and asked.

"The claws? Erm, I don't recommend that, although it's made of Orichalcum steel as the legend said, but this type of metal is the hardest known substance has no known methods of manufacturing, so it's mostly seen as collectibles. But if you chose this, you can't choose the meat."

"No, Ms. Alice, just give me the crystals, the reverse scale, and the claws." I said.

If it's Master, he would show interesting in these materials, then, it would be a great gift.

I chose all of the most valuable things. This is a gift for Master, and no one can stop me.

I left the tent with a pleasant feeling as I was thinking about these things.

...

...  
After Melon left, only Alice and Reisa were left in the tent.

"Hey, what ya think 'bout her?" Reisa, who just finished the dragon meat skewer, with a blade of grass in her mouth, she put her feet on the table and asked.

"She's strong, maybe the strongest I've ever seen." Alice sat on the wooden chair then quietly spoke, "But she's also a bit pure and unaware of social rules, how do I put it... like a child with unnatural powers."

"What an accurate description! Right, what happened to Philip Rex? I haven't seen that idiot in hours."

"He went back with the messengers already, I mean, I also wouldn't stay here if I made some stupid decisions like that... taking on a dragon head on..."

"I thought he would come and make a scene! He shoulda been very interested in these materials, especially the dragon reverse scale." Reisa laughed and said.

"It's not like you don't have interest in those materials as well, my princess. Where's your lance? Don't tell me it's broken again."

"I admit I do have interest in that, if I did get the reverse scale, maybe my weapon problem can finally get resolved." Reisa paused for a second, "But I'm not that shameless."

"How princess-like." Alice took a sip of hot tea, "But letting the raid end like this, Philip Rex won't just sit around, he's bound to attack that Melon Lizsar."

"I really like that person, can ya help her?" Hearing this, Reisa's expression changed.

"Hahaha, she has that level of strength, she should be fine without my help if something happens." Alice laughed, "Let me tell you something, before she came here, she has caused a ruckus over at the Academy."

"The Academy? You mean the place that has become where the major families build their strengths?"

"Don't rush, I'll tell you about it right now." Then, Alice told Reisa the things she had heard.

"Sending Akberv flying with one punch!? At the entrance exam?!" Reisa's eyes opened wide.

How ignorant does someone have be to do something like that?!

"Hehe, that punch shattered the influence barriers there! Those people who think they hold power in the Academy should be fighting in no time, and the idiot Philip Rex would have no means to do anything to her."

"Of course _you_ would be sensitive to these power struggles, Alice. I just can't understand these things."

"If not, how can I say that I'm the princess's personal confidant?"

"I guess so." Reisa laughed, "About Melon, do you know anything else?"

"That's all, do you want me to investigate her background?"

"Don't, let me do it myself, your methods will only make her unhappy."

"Do you want to get her to work for you? Reisa."

"About that, I have some things to restate. First, I don't wanna form parties, I just wanna be a happy adventurer! Second, don't try to lure me into this path! I hate fighting for power!"

"Fine, fine, it's all as the princess say."

"The last thing is that she has a master already, the thing on her neck is a slave collar, the kind for pleasure slaves, the same as the one you had before."

"Even if there's a collar, you can still take her away by force, exert the grandeur a noble should have!"

"I don't want that kinda grandeur! Pay attention to what I'm saying! Anyways, wearing a collar, but having this kind of speech and attitude, young and strong, but pure, it can't be taught by a normal person. Plus, she decided to take the dragon claws, which is Orichalcum steel!"

"Uh-huh, so what are you trying to say, Reisa?"

"So maybe, the person behind her can actually..."

"Oh, god!" Alice suddenly shouts.

"Ehh!? W-what happened?"

"Since when did our Reisa become so smart! This isn't normal, Reisa, I'll give you money, go see a doctor!"

"Were you paying attention to me at all!?"


	54. Chapter 46: School Day

_(Grace's Perspective)_

The school had started, and I'm trying to get used to everything in the Academy.

The Academy is different from what I'm used to. Back in the orphanage, we were always learning in the same classroom, seats determined by seating charts, and I would be able to get to know everyone in the class.

But in the academy, every class is located at different places; each class, you get to choose where you're sitting, the earlier you get there, the more option you will have. Because of that, every day you will sit in different seats, with people you didn't/wouldn't know.

Each students will have his/her own schedule depends on their skills. For example, I am good at five elemental attributes, which are Dark, Fire, Earth, Wind, and Light, so my schedule is based on those five attributes.

Aside from those basic classes, students can also take other extra classes, but they cost money. I don't have a problem with that, because I've already got enough from collecting mob drops.

There are six grades in the Academy. But the grades depend on the number of credits a student has, not age. So it's common to see young senior students or old sophomore students.

The higher grade you are, the more class you can take. To get to second grade you need 200 credits, 3rd for 400, 4th for 700, 5th for 1000, 6th for 1500, and 2000 to finally graduate

Students can gain credits from classes, or from arena battles. And usually, battles provides much, much more than in classes… But I heard from Aure, battles usually contains high risks, some people even die from that. Still, lots of students get involved with the arena and arena relevant events each year.

Because some of the higher level classes have some limits such as "Only students who became 4th grade before he/she is _ years old can join". So if they can't get to the goal in time by normal classes, battles become the only way. Most of the students desire courses that can teach some powerful skills and felt that they must get in their chosen course, no matter what.

It's sunset, After the I have attended all my classes, I was walking with Aure on the way back to the dorm.

"How's your day going, Grace?"

"...Spell Circle History, boring," I said, "Mid-level wind magic, also boring. Some actual training on the training ground, a little better... but still can't compare to back before."

"Back before? I'm curious. Grace, what's your life like before you came here?" Aure turned her head towards me and asked.

"...I lived in an orphanage, trained by running around in the mountains and forests."

"I see. The trainings in the Academy must be very tough for you."

"No. The trainings in the Academy are too easy, and too simple." I said pointedly, "Monsters in the mountains. Battling in the mountains, you have to be cautious all the time. Any misses can kill you."

"Eh? Kill?"

"In the mountains, mobs such as a Mountain King, forest dragons, Earth bees over 10 feet (3 meters), Tyrant apes... Oh, and minotaur. All are common, daily battles with them, how I trained myself."

"I don't get how you could survive under that environment." Aure blinked her eyes, her face was one of doubt and disbelief.

Well, it doesn't matter. It's not something too important.

"...Aure, are you going to Walson's restaurant?"

"Maybe, I get to have free food and drinks. Why do you ask?"

"Can you, tell Walson that I… um, no, nevermind."

Walson went to the red-light district while Melon was out… So dirty-minded. But, other than restricting his perversion, I can't find other reasons to stop Walson.

I know I'm jealous, but… Was I a bit too much, by hitting him until he fainted?

But… Walson was also acting out of line...but...It's part of my fault...

"Tell Walson that you're sorry about hitting him?"

"...You knew?"

"He complained about that before," Aure shrugged, and turned around, looked into my eyes and said, "Tell me, you like Walson right?"

"..."

"Don't look at me with a 'How do I know that' face, it's too obvious, I wouldn't even need to guess. The only one who doesn't know is probably Walson. But seriously, what is going on with you two? I haven't known you guys for long, but you two should be good friends, right? What I see is two people who don't want to be around each other."

"...It was a misunderstanding." I said, but I don't know how to explain it to Aure.

This whole thing contains many of Walson's secrets. Walson wouldn't want me to tell other people.

"If it's hard to explain then just don't. Some important things would be better to go and tell him yourself… Just an advice, I always bring presents to my friends after I fought with them. If they can feel your sorrow, they would forgive you no matter how they're mad at you."

"... Presents!"

Right! A present! That is the way!

Hmm, how come I didn't think of that…. I already prepared a present to give Walson for celebrating our 15 years old ceremony. Wouldn't it be a great time for apologize?

I took the [Lunar Crystal] out. Right now, a small, glowing magic circle is spinning on it. It is absorbing my mana through the magic circle.

"This is a [Lunar Crystal] ?! Isn't this the thing that needs to absorb mana for weeks without stopping in order to craft it? You've had this with you ALL DAY?!" Aure gaped.

"...Mm." I nodded.

"And you still go to spell classes while you're doing THIS!? How much mana do you have? Won't you get dried up?

"...I already had it on for three weeks." I said.

There is only about one-five of my total mana in me right now, but that's because I was using more mana than usual these days, including the amount I gain from resting, and the disgusting mana potion... if I can save some of the mana from other activities, I can keep doing this for another one, even two weeks without fainting.

"Three weeks?! Even when you're bathing and eating?!"

"Mm."

"ARE YOU A MONSTER?!"

"...I'm Grace."

"W-w-w-wait, you're giving this to Walson as a gift? You want to give this hand-crafted protecting stone to Walson? A present this precious?!"

"Mm."

"Oh my Dokain, alright, if you give him this and he still won't forgive you, I must teach him a lesson for you, Grace! How about I tie him up and throw him on a boat naked?

Eh? Won't he will feel cold, won't that have any problems?

"But Grace, if you truly want to give Walson a present, then you'll have other problems to deal with. Because I've heard from lots of people said that you're…"

Before Aure finished, suddenly, we were interrupted by lots of girls screaming.

We looked at the source of the screams, it was a bunch of…crazy girls that do not appear to be sound of mind.

"Sir Neolla!" "Sir Neolla!" "Sir Neolla! You're so handsome!"

"Ladies, I will be troubled if you all keep doing this, you all are scaring my cute Grace." A voice came out from the girls.

A voice that I'm familiar with, but, it's also a voice that I already started to despise.

Annoying.

These people, are so noisy.

That man just walk out from the girls. Blond, well-combed hair, and pretty clothings…...

"Who is that girl over there?" "Oh-I've heard that Sir Neolla had met a girl that he likes when he got back to his homeland." "I'm so jealous… Being loved by the prince of our Unicorn Dorm…"

"If I've done my calculations right, three days later, is your 15 years old coming-of-age ceremony, is that true?" He walked towards me, smiling, and lend his hand, the posture of inviting. "May I invite you, to hang out with me on that day? I promise I will give you a beautiful ceremony."

I frowned.

Annoying, _annoying_ , _annoying_. Can you just, leave me alone?

"...Neolla."


End file.
